


The Chronicles of E. Bridger: Girl at War

by eri_quin



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: Rebels, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, F/M, Genderbending, Multi, War
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-29
Updated: 2018-01-23
Packaged: 2018-03-26 06:43:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 11
Words: 47,743
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3840952
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eri_quin/pseuds/eri_quin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In the midst of making rebels out of Imperials, Ezra finds herself on the path of becoming a Jedi Sentinel that will help unify a rebellion and kickstart the Galactic Civil War. Starting with reclaiming Lothal, unlikely allies will make Ezra take a stand at the forefront and become a leader in a war she was born for. Fem!Ezra AU, remake of series, with Expanded Universe influences.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Girl in Transit

The Sienar Fleet Systems factory she worked in was hot and almost stifling, especially considering the suit she had to wear. The bindings around her chest felt constricting, more so in that environment. The TIE fighter she was currently working on felt hot to the touch, with the metal heating up from the heat. It was hard to work like this, but she knew if she didn't, she would get in trouble. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, and as she focused on the TIE fighter, she honed in on what was the problem.

Ezra Bridger had a gift with mechanics, and could instinctively figure any technology out practically within seconds.

Reaching into the inside of the undercarriage, she found the loose and malformed screw. Curling her hand around it, she turned and went to find the supervisor of her division.

"Sir, this screw was what was causing the TIE fighter to be unstable. I'm requesting a new one to replace it," she told Strove Solarlast, the supervisor that she worked under.

He hummed an approval. "Good job, Bridger. You found the problem quickly. Stay at your station and I'll make sure a replacement screw is delivered quickly."

Ezra nodded and handed the screw over to him, before turning around to go back to her work station. She kept her head ducked and didn't look at anyone, keeping to herself. She was, after all, pretending to be male, and drawing attention to herself would hinder that.

It wasn't long until the replacement screw came and she got to work dismantling things and then putting them back together, along with finally putting on a good screw on the part that was needed. And then she got to clock out, her morning shift finished as she ended her job at the factory. Now all she needed was to check up with Vizago…

Cikatro Vizago was a big-time crime boss and headed the "Lothal Underground." Ezra had met him when she was young, around a year and a half after she was left to fend for herself on the streets. By then, she'd found an old communication tower that she'd named "Ezra's Tower" and slept and lived in it. However, thievery could only get her so far in maintaining a stable life to live by, without frequent bouts of starvation.

Vizago had offered her a job, and at that point she'd started delivering packages and whatnot for him. As she grew older, she began to want to strike out on her own and away from crime and work on something more stable and normal. Vizago had struck a deal with her then –he'd get her this factory job, as long as she continued to do little favors for him. Of course she'd have to pretend to be male, since females weren't allowed to work at the factories, and he'd have to pay off a few of the higher ups to look the other way…

In the end, it did come to a higher price than she'd thought it would. He was after all giving huge favors to her, and it was special treatment in a way. But it always comes with a price.

The factory job was enough to make ends meet for her, but aside from the assorted favors, Vizago had pulled her into a night job. He was invested in many things, and he was always looking to get money and lots of it from whatever he could. It really shouldn't have come to a surprise to her, for her to have gotten herself stuck in Capital City's red light district, when in hindsight, Vizago had always made such clear hints to her about this eventual plan. Had he been grooming her for it? Maybe. Did it matter now? No.

She was already stuck in this situation.

But that job was much later, and now was now. She had plenty of time to herself, and do whatever she wanted.

She had some time and a little money, so she could indulge in a diner nearby. She'd just ordered and was waiting, when who else but Vizago sat down across from her.

"Cikatro," Ezra greeted in surprise. "I thought you'd be in Tarkintown."

Vizago grinned. "Well, my base of op may be there, my dear, but you know my biggest capital and business are here in Capital City. And I knew your shift would be over, so I came to check up on you. Good thing I caught you coming into this place, eh?"

Ezra inwardly sighed. "Yeah, guess so. Saves me the trouble of calling you at least."

The Devaronian chuckled and hailed over the waitress, ordering something for himself as well. "So tell me about work."

"It was fine," she barely refrained from muttering. "Worked on a TIE fighter, like always, and found a messed up screw that was the problem." She told him about going to Solarlast, reporting the problem, his reaction, and her request being easily granted and then delivered without her needing to go through the proper channels and paperwork necessary.

"Huh, he didn't even tell you to write up your debrief, huh? Or even put your request on paper and send it through the others," Vizago noted thoughtfully to himself. "Good. Sounds like he's getting impressed and looking passed you being a girl. Keep it up and maybe they'll completely overlook you being a female and let you become a pilot!"

She ignored his half-serious, half-mocking jab at her. He shook his head.

"Maybe if you keep at this, you can get an in for us with them, and a little more business will be coming our way," Vizago mused.

"I thought you didn't associate with Imperials," Ezra rolled her eyes and grabbed her drink, taking a long sip.

"I don't," he shrugged. "At least when it comes to information and helping them catch people. But money is money, no matter who or where from, Ezra. Don't forget that."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. I hear it from you all the time," Ezra scrunched up her nose.

"Don't do stuff like that," Vizago snorted. "You look cute. The diners here will be scrambling after you, and I might have to sell you out to one of them for the day."

She scowled heavily at him, and he just gave her a look back.

"In any case, since you're doing a good job at this job of yours and looking like it's going to be a profitable venture in the future, you can skip tonight," Vizago said offhandedly. "Unless you  _want_ to work."

Ezra sat up straighter. "No, I'm fine. I can really skip tonight?" she tried not to sound too eager.

"Yeah, sure. You did good. Work at this, even if slowly, and screw by screw, we could land ourselves a good investment in the Imperial regime and make some big money," he nodded confidently.

It was always money to him, but she didn't really care at this point. So far that day, everything was going well.

* * *

Ezra had been heading towards her tower, when she caught sight of the TIE fighter. To be honest, she'd noticed it that morning, on her way to work. In fact, she'd seen it fighting against a ship first, before the other ship shot it down and it had crashed here, near to where she'd lived. She'd contemplated checking it and the pilot out, but it and the pilot were Imperial and she was getting late to work, so she'd decided against it and continued on.

She was surprised it was still here, and that it hadn't been hauled back to the city and into one of the factories to be fixed or otherwise salvaged for parts. She hesitated. Was the pilot alright?

"It's Imperial scum," she muttered to herself. "I don't care."

That's what she kept saying to herself as she continued on to her tower. However, something made her hesitate again and she suddenly changed directions, coming near the TIE fighter.

"Anyone there?" she called out.

When there was no answer, knowing she was going to regret this, Ezra cautiously came closer and climbed on top of the TIE fighter, popping the entrance open and peering inside. A slightly dazed pilot blinked lethargically and looked up blearily at her. He was rather handsome, if haughty-looking.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

He opened his mouth and she'd been prepared to start thinking of all the things she might need to help him, until he started talking –

"Get off my ship, girl," he said arrogantly.

Ezra stared at him blankly, before her eye twitched in annoyance and she 'complied' with his demand, irritably telling herself she'd known better and shouldn't have even bothered.

"Imperial scumbag," she spat out as she slid down the ship's side and feet landing on the ground.

She was about to stomp to her tower, when he called out.

"Wait!...Please," he reluctantly bit out the last part. "I've been here for hours," his voice had, now that she paid a little more attention, sounded hoarse like his throat was parched.

Thirsty then. And in this heat and at that time of the day, it was no wonder he clearly seemed dehydrated. Inwardly growling at herself, she once more climbed onto the ship and peered into the cockpit. Watching him and the area a little more closely, she realized he must've been sitting and hadn't moved too much in that cramped space, especially strapped to the chair as he was.

She also mentally took note of things that could be useful to steal and maybe sell on the black market, but nothing really worthy caught her eye. Years before, she might've not really cared and stolen what she could and what she thought would sell nicely, but years with Vizago had taught her what was more profitable and what was just junk and would be sold only for petty money. Nothing here was worth selling, not counting the helmet he had –those sold rather well, but she was tempted to keep it to herself and add it to her personal collection. His was rather well worn, indicating his more than casual use of it and of frequent flying, and she'd always had a soft spot for signs of personal touches.

"Why are you stuck there?" she asked.

He grimaced. "My harness is jammed and won't release. I can't cut my way out as I have nothing to cut the straps with. My ship's damaged, so I can't fly back and can't use the communication channels to ask for help. No one's found me here until you."

Ezra contemplated that it might have been a good idea if she'd gone to look for him that morning, instead of leaving him be…but she couldn't help but think that his much more cooperative (and dare she say civil) attitude was due to the long and rather sufferable hours being stuck strapped in that cramped cockpit with no water and the day steadily growing hotter.

"Wait a second," she said then, and reached for her backpack, finding her everyday carry. She flipped out a knife and then carefully leaned herself more into the ship, reaching for a strap and starting to cut through. Half in the ship and half out, Ezra was hoping she wouldn't fall in and awkwardly cramp up the cockpit any more than it was. Thankfully, she was able to cut through quickly and she leaned back out, just as he started shifting around and then followed her out of the ship, pulling himself up and out through the entrance.

He glared in the direction of Capital City, and she debated the merit of just leaving him there and quickly heading to her tower. But then she remembered that he was probably thirsty and searched through her backpack for her water bottle, and then thrust it towards him.

His lip curled. "You already drank out of that, didn't you?"

"Are you thirsty or not?" she asked hotly. "I could have sworn you kept saying how you were stuck in there for hours, and in this heat, you're probably parched. Either take it and drink some water, or dry out even more than you already are."

"Don't talk to me like that," he muttered, but took her water bottle anyway.

She was tempted to take her water bottle back and rescind the offer, and then just start marching back home without any further interaction with this jerk.

"Thank you," he added under his breath, so she grudgingly decided to let his pompous attitude slide. He growled and went back to glaring in Capital City's direction. "Great. I have to walk all the way to the city, and then inform them of my ship crashing here so they can get someone to haul it back."

Ezra started to panic. She didn't want any Imperial near here, and being so close to where she lived. It would be a complete nightmare if they found out she lived in that tower, and who knows what they'd do to her or to her home.

"I can fix your ship," she blurted out and he looked at her skeptically. "Well, I can. And besides, it's better than nothing, right? It's not like you have any other choice aside from walking to the city, and the ship's already damaged. What could it hurt?"

He started muttering under his breath, but he nodded sharply. She got to work, popping the undercarriage open and then looking inside. Her eyes zoomed around, taking note of the damage and what she needed to do.

"It's flyable," she said after her examination. "I can fix it and stabilize it enough that you have enough time to get it to the factory and have them look it over and replace the parts that really need replacing."

He sighed in aggravation. "Fine. Sounds doable. How long will it take you?"

"I don't know. Half an hour maybe? And I have to head home and grab a battery charger. Your batteries are completely shot," she'd noted of the almost drained batteries of the TIE fighter. "I suppose that dogfight you had with the other ship this morning used up a lot of energy, especially with the shots you were taking, but the batteries wouldn't be as drained as they are now just from that…"

Though looking embarrassed he hadn't known that, he shot her an irritated look. "You saw the fight this morning and saw me crash? Why didn't you come check on me then?"

Blank-faced, Ezra replied neutrally. "I wasn't sure I wanted to go check and help out an Imperial pilot."

He pursed his lips. "Wisecrack," he muttered, but that was all he said and did, so Ezra smirked to herself as she rummaged through her backpack for any tools she had, and thinking that maybe they were starting to get along after all.

This wasn't thought sarcastically at all.

She started fixing what she could, knowing those parts were too damaged to really be kept in the ship and that her fixing of them was only a quick fix until he could get the ship to a factory and get those parts replaced. The crash also loosened some bolts and screws she had tightened, and there was no way she could fix the TIE's cannons (not that she wanted to anyway). After all that, she still needed to get the battery charger so that the ship had enough energy to fly off.

"I've got to get that charger now," she eyed him warily. "I'll be back, so just stay here."

She quickly rushed off, not wanting him to really see the direction she was taking to head to her tower. Once there, she started panting at the almost sprint she'd took on. She found the elevator and had just entered it with the doors closing, when a hand shot out and stopped them from completely closing. Taken aback, she almost freaked out to see that pilot walk in curiously.

"Why are you here?" he asked just as curiously, though at least he was extremely less hostile than he had been in the beginning, though he'd been…kind enough then, if rude.

"Didn't I tell you to stay back there?" she gaped at him, wondering what in the galaxy was wrong with this guy.

He raised an eyebrow. "I'm not going to listen to  _you_ ," he said stubbornly, and she mentally face palmed.

Why, again, was she helping him?

"I live here," she glared heatedly.

His fine eyebrows furrowed together. "This is a communications tower. An  _abandoned_ communications tower. You can't live here. And where's your parents?"

"I know what this place is," she grumbled irritably, just as they reached the top and headed to the door to her place. "And they're gone."  _'Taken,'_  she wanted to spit out bitterly at him, but she kept it back. "Would you just stay here?" she asked exasperatedly.

But he ignored her and continued to follow right up to her door, where she opened it and went in. He calmly came in after her and looked around, while she ignored his presence and went to get the battery charger.

"I thought you might need help carrying the charger," he suddenly said unexpectedly. "So I decided to come too."

"I don't need any help. It's not that heavy," she huffed, finding it.

The truth was, while it was small enough to carry, it  _was_  rather heavy and especially since she had to carry it all the way to his ship. That wasn't even counting how she had to drag the thing back to the tower after she was done…

Still, even as she said that, he walked over and took it from her. She reluctantly muttered her thanks and started to head to her door, when he caught her off guard.

"You have a lot of helmets."

She flinched and turned to face him, seeing him looking at her wall of helmets she'd collected over the years.

"I collect them," she said with a frown, having no excuse on hand to give him except for the truth. "Or I sell them."

He glanced at her, but said nothing. He followed her out and they headed back to her ship in silence. Once there, she focused on her work and finished off any other repairs she was able to do, before setting up the charger and connecting it to the batteries of the ship. She warmed it up and then began the process of charging the batteries. She was thankful when it was all done and she could finally be rid of him.

"There, all set," she announced, disconnecting the charger. "Ready to take off?"

"Yeah, I guess I am," he said idly, the most amiable he had been the entire time. "Thank you," he said calmly, once again catching her off guard.

He then went into the cockpit and snugly sat down, pushing aside the ruined harness. He closed the door to it and started the engine, and then he was flying off. She watched his ship for a bit, before grabbing her backpack and then the charger (wincing at how warm it still was) and started to make her way back to her tower.

On her way there, she began wondering why her backpack felt heavier than it should be. Setting down the charger, she grabbed her backpack and opened it, before nearly gaping at what she saw inside. She pulled out the black helmet and stared.

Catching sight of some writing around the top, she moved it a little and stared some more.

_Payment for your help. I wrote on this so you can't sell it. –Valen Rudor_

She shook her head at the strangeness of it all, and snorted. Did he really think that just because he wrote on it, that she couldn't just paint over the writing or something?

Still, as she settled into her home and got comfortable, Ezra gently placed the helmet in a prominent spot in her collection.

* * *

It was time for sleep, in Ezra's opinion. Maybe it was a little early, but she was tired and had had a long day. She just wanted to lie down and close her eyes, and ignore everything.

Except for the persistent knocking on her door that wouldn't shut up.

"Ugh," Ezra pouted, lying on her bed and wanting to just hit her head against something and knock herself out.

Instead, she reluctantly got herself up and headed to her door, when she mentally groaned at who she saw when she opened it.

"Cikatro, what are you doing here?" she asked in bewilderment.

The Devaronian was scowling and looked tense. "Look, I need you to work tonight after all."

"What? But you said I didn't –!"

He cut her off. "Change of plans. We're going to be entertaining some very important guests, and I really need  _you_  to be there. So throw on a jacket and let's get going!"

Screwing up her face unhappily, Ezra did as she was told and hurried with Vizago out of there. As they rushed down the tower, she asked who was so important that he had to change his mind about her break.

"We got Imperials coming for a visit," Vizago grunted.

And Ezra froze in shock as she stared at his hurrying back.

"I said come on!"

She had to will her legs to start moving again.

Started 1/12/15 – Completed 1/13/15


	2. Of Rebels and Ghosts

When Ezra heard Vizago cursing in his own language and in Basic, she knew that something had interfered with his plans (more so than already).

"Stay here and duck your head," Vizago ordered as he stopped his speeder. "Make sure you're not seen."

While she nodded, Vizago jumped out of the speeder and leisurely made his way to some people, as Ezra snuck a peek. There was surprisingly a male Lasat at the back of the group, a female figure in Mandalorian armor a little ahead of him, and at the front was a Twi'lek female and a male human.

"Kanan! What can I do for you? I'd appreciate if you'd make it quick –I've got business," Vizago was apparently talking to the male in front, who had stepped forward to address the crime boss.

"Vizago, we were hoping you could tell us when the next shipment of food is coming in from the Empire. We know that people around here, outside of Capital City, are really having a hard time and need food and supplies, and if we can get a time, we're ready to go swipe the next shipment and haul it over to Tarkintown for the people," Kanan spoke seriously.

Ezra had been to Tarkintown frequently because of Vizago, and knew that conditions there weren't all that great. It would be nice if these people could succeed and help them…

Vizago suddenly grinned. "You know what? I do know when the next shipment will come! But, and I'll pay you for this, I need to nab a shipment of weapons from them too. Get those to me, and I'll pay you the usual amount, and you also get to have the shipment time. What do you say?"

Kanan shared a look with the others, but no one voiced their disagreements. "Alright, sounds fine. When's the shipment coming?"

"In a week," Vizago said pleased. "I'll give you the details a little later, but I've got to go now. Like I said, important business."

"Okay, we'll let you go," Kanan stepped back into the group, though his eyes curiously went to Ezra's direction, causing her to duck and hide.

She frowned at that, and wondered how he could see her in the dark or notice her at all. She hadn't made a noise, or done anything to bring attention to her. Weird.

"Come up now. They're gone, so let's get to Capital City quick," Vizago was beside her already, and had started the engine.

She didn't reply, just straightened up and waited for them to get to their destination already. With Vizago's driving, it hadn't taken too long and they were in the well-decorated building in Capital City in no time.

"I have to change," she muttered to him.

"Hurry it up," Vizago snapped at her. "They'd already been waiting for half an hour, I think. Damn Kanan and his timing…could've waited until the morning, couldn't he?" he grumbled the last part under his breath.

Ezra hurried off to find some clothes to change into and move away from Vizago and his bad mood. Thankfully, she was quick to find something and she changed into the negligee, and hurried back to Vizago.

"Alright, the other girls will be handling his men, but I want you to personally handle the Agent. Aside from needing this handled carefully, I'm pretty sure you'll have a better temperament to handle this guy than the other girls. Got it?"

"Yeah, yeah. I got it," she huffed, though she started to feel uneasy about Vizago's brief but serious depiction of the man she had to deal with.

He led her to a private room, where the other girls were already entertaining some other men, though the ones she noted in particular had men in Stormtrooper armor, minus their helmets. But Vizago had her attention again, and was leading her to a man that was in black, opposite from the rest of his soldiers, and had very prominent sideburns in the style of muttonchops.

"Agent Kallus, my most favorite and best girl," Vizago pushed her forward. "Ezra, meet Agent Kallus."

The man was intimidating for sure, especially with his frown and serious attitude. Ezra smiled anyway though, trying not to look nervous.

"Pleased to meet you, Agent Kallus," she almost made a smart remark about 'Agent' being his first name, but she hadn't gauged him well enough to know how he'd react, so kept her comment to herself.

For the time being. She inwardly smirked at that, also because she was dying to ask him about his sideburns.

He nodded at her. "Pleased to meet you, Ezra. Please, sit."

Ezra sat, after taking another glance around the room. Most of the others were already engaging in risqué behavior and entering into exhibitionism, but Agent Kallus didn't seem the type. He also didn't seem the type to be in a place like a brothel at all.

"Agent Kallus, please enjoy yourself. Ezra…" Vizago gave her a meaningful look, before leaving them alone.

An awkward silence was starting to ensue, and she knew better than to let it take hold. So even if she was brash and even abrasive, she had to capture his attention and hold it.

She placed her chin on her hand and her elbow onto the table, giving him a lazy smile. "So, Agent, is that your real name?"

Ah, she couldn't help it. She had to ask that one, though she'll hold off on his sideburns for now.

Ezra was gratified to see a light dusting of red on his cheeks. He cleared his throat.

"No. It's….confidential," he replied finally. "You may call me just Kallus for now."

"Well then, Kallus, you don't seem the type to be here?" she asked curiously.

Really, he wasn't. He wasn't drinking, he wasn't inebriated in any form, his attitude screamed strict and professional, and he just looked and seemed like it. He really did look like a fish out of water amongst this group.

And he had yet to reach out to her, or touch her in any manner.

"My unit and I had just been transferred here to Lothal," he said quietly. "To placate them about the new assignment, I'd…brought them here. By suggestion of Mayor Tua actually. I…am still surprised that this is legal here."

Ah, well that answered plenty questions for her.

"Mayor Tua is…" Ezra chose her words carefully, almost scrunching up her nose. It was a bad habit, Vizago kept telling her. She just couldn't help it sometimes. "Let's just say she's more than she seems."

He looked curiously at her, but she didn't elaborate on that. So instead he brought up something he'd also been curious about, as he repeatedly glanced at the jewel-like object she wore as a necklace. The crystal was wrapped in a simple leather string that connected to a leather braid that hung around her neck.

"That crystal…where'd you get it?" he asked, catching her by surprise with the seemingly random question.

She grabbed it and held it up. "This? Two years ago, a shipment came in for Vizago," she assumed that Kallus would only know Vizago's surname, "and I saw this. I was allowed a pick from the shipment to keep, so I chose this."

He gently grabbed it from her. "Do you know what this is?"

She shook her head, becoming curious.

"It's velmorite," he said, lowering his voice. "It's a crystal found on Velmor. It's actually one of the crystals those Jedi use to make their lightsabers. It's…illegal to trade and possess a lightsaber crystal."

Horrified, Ezra couldn't help reeling back away from him and watching him warily, but he still had a hold of her necklace, so she couldn't go too far or get away from him. However, he let go of it immediately, and slightly held up his hands.

"I won't hurt you," he said hurriedly. "You didn't know, right?" He reached over and took the velmorite crystal and then her hand, bringing her hand to the crystal and closing it around the velmorite.

Strangely, he gave her a small smile and she had a feeling smiling wasn't something he did.

"Keep it out of sight. I'll keep it secret, as long as you keep me being here a secret, okay?" Kallus held out his hand and continued to give her that small, unused smile.

Maybe he wasn't too serious about her keeping him secret, but it was an odd feeling she got that said that he really wouldn't say a word to anyone about her crystal. It was really weird how she was running into so many nice (well, sort of) Imperials, when her head had always labeled them as "evil minions of the Empire."

"Okay," she mumbled, taking and shaking his hand.

But now she remembered she had to get this back on track, or else Vizago would be angry at her for not doing her job. She had to make nice and get Kallus to be some sort of bridge between Vizago's business and the law.

"You're not comfortable," she brought up her suspicion, and he frowned, though his eyes darting to the side revealed that truth. "It's fine. Why don't we go to somewhere more private and quiet?"

For a second, he had a sort of "deer in headlights" sort of look on his face, which was so comical she was tempted to burst into laughter right then and there. Especially regarding who this guy was, and with what his personality seemed like so far…

She still couldn't get an accurate read on him.

Ezra, not dwelling on that, got up and went to him, tugging him up from his seat. Numbly, he followed after her and went outside of that room and headed towards the stairs. They'd just gotten onto the stairs, when they heard someone drunkenly address them.

"Vaping son of a blaster, is that an Imperial sleemo?"

Kallus quickly turned on his heel to face the person who'd insulted him, and Ezra's stomach dropped. It would be just her kriffing luck if a fight broke out, and her customer was involved.

"What did you say?" Kallus spat out, his eyes blazing as he practically strode over to the drunk man.

"You heard me, Imperial druk," the drunk sneered. "Empire filth! You and your Empire can go shove it –!"

But Kallus had snatched the other's collar, and was lifting him off of the floor.

"Don't you dare speak of the Empire like that! I'll have you arrested for treason!"

Ezra winced. A loyalist, and a hardcore one at that. In that case, she was even more surprised he'd let her get away with the crystal, never mind that she really  _hadn't_  known what it was. Knowing she had to do damage control, like right now, Ezra quickly made her way to the two. Effortlessly, her hand touched his and he lowered it in surprise, causing the other to shake loose and run out of the establishment. Kallus scowled in the direction of the exit and made to go after the other, when Ezra stepped first in front of him and then right into his personal space.

Already startling him with that, she moved one of her hands to rest against his chest and looked up at him with hooded eyes that she could feel made his breath hitch.

"Your time and attention should be on me," she murmured, watching him intensely.

He blinked slowly and then swallowed nervously. "Yes, you're right. You're…I'm your companion for the night. I should be thinking of you."

So she redirected him back to the stairs and began to lead the way again, until she reached one of the rooms on the second floor. Once inside, she started to talk again.

"You have a strong sense of loyalty towards the Empire," she noted, continuing to feel him out.

He straightened up and had a proud look on his face. "Of course. I serve my Empire dutifully and have earned my high rank through years of service. I'm of a very high rank, you know, and the senior of many soldiers," he couldn't help boasting in the end.

So he dislikes anyone opposing the Empire, has an inflated ego and superiority complex (both probably stemming from his rank), and quick to anger (if the reaction to the drunk was any indication).

For some reason, she wasn't feeling this was all and it was grating on her that he was being difficult to figure out. She inwardly huffed and decided to think on it later, instead turning to him and stepping into his personal space again. Seeing his nervousness, which again took her aback since he'd already proven he had an egotistical streak, Ezra leaned up and was close to kissing him when he gently pushed her away and backed away quickly, his back hitting the door.

"I don't think I'd like to continue this way," he said quietly, and Ezra was beyond baffled by now. "I wouldn't mind spending the rest of the night in your company, but I'm not…like that. And I don't usually spend time with…"

"Prostitutes?" she contributed wryly, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm not comfortable addressing you like that," he said softly, watching her in a rather timid manner that so far seemed completely unlike him that Ezra was tempted to see if he was ill.

This was going wrong. She was supposed to make him comfortable and relaxed. What was she going to do now?

Taking a deep breath, she sat on the bed and then patted the space next to her. She gave him a playful grin.

"Come here," she winked at him. "And I promise no funny business! Unless it involves me grabbing a pillow and hitting you with it," she joked.

Seeing the slight smile on his face as he came closer, she relaxed a bit and decided to continue on in this vein.

"Now, Kallus, why don't you talk to me?" her playful grin turned into a soft smile. "Don't talk to me about the Empire, your work, or anything like that. Tell me about  _you_. Tell me about Kallus and what he likes and doesn't like, and what kinds of things he enjoys doing."

He looked at her in bewilderment, before he strangely began talking in the most shiest way.

And in the end, Ezra decided Agent Kallus was contradictorily both a violent and gentle man.

He was aggressive, loyal to his faction, prideful, and the personification of a good soldier. This, however, was the front he was comfortable with and put up against everyone and every day. Behind closed doors (very, very closed doors), he liked the quiet, he  _drew_ , and sometimes enjoyed historical knowledge and learning about the past, though he was very careful not to delve too deeply into the past that he knew wasn't allowed. He could be awkward and unsure in situations, such as the one he currently was in with Ezra, but he could also be demanding, controlling, and in charge when it was a situation he was much more comfortable and used to.

Ezra liked contradictions. They were interesting and she wouldn't be bored, that's for sure.

She also was proud to say, before sleep claimed them both, she'd managed to hit him in the face with a pillow.

* * *

The next morning dawned bright and early for Ezra. Turning to her side, she saw the strange sight of Agent Kallus sleeping next to her on his side, arm almost tentatively stretched towards her. Knowing it was bad form to leave the customer before they woke up, she simply relaxed in bed and went through the things she needed to do that day. Honestly, she didn't really need to do much. She was off from working from the factory too, since they were doing some kind of inspection that day. She pretty much had free time to herself.

"Morning," Kallus mumbled as he began to wake up.

"Good morning," she said chirpily, and Kallus shot up in bed, looking at her awkwardly and remembering where he was. "I could get breakfast, if you're not in a hurry to leave."

He coughed into his hand. "No, it's alright. I should be going now. Thank you for your time," he mumbled at the end.

She sat up and joined him by the door, where he held out his hand formally, in a much more serious display than when he'd offered to keep her crystal a secret and almost teasingly offered his hand to shake for the 'deal.' Her lips quirked up as she shook it.

"It really was a pleasure to meet you," he said just as formally. "Good…bye," he reluctantly said then.

Just as he was about to leave, Ezra hooked a finger onto his collar and stopped him, before standing on the tip of her toes and kissing his lips lightly. He blinked rapidly after, before she lightly pushed him towards the stairs' direction. She was pleased to see him rather stumble his way down, and she grinned impishly to herself.

After a few moments, Vizago finally showed up.

"He looked pleased," he noted, sounding pleased himself. "Good job, Ezra. I'll drive you to the edge of the city, but you'll have to walk the rest of the way."

"Where's my clothes?" she frowned at him.

"Getting washed."

"I'm not leaving in just this," she hissed at him as she gestured at the negligee she was wearing.

He waved her off. "It'll be fine. No one will see you anyway. Now hurry up! I've got to get back to Tarkintown."

Grumbling to herself, she followed him down the stairs and out of the building, heading to his speeder parked nearby. From there, he did indeed drive her to just the edge of the city, where they parted ways so he could head to Tarkintown. Irritable since it was a little chilly out that early in the morning, she trekked the rest of the way with a heavy scowl on her face. That unhappy scowl immediately straightened as fear took over when she saw the TIE fighter parked right next to her tower.

She could run and avoid whoever it was (and damned if she didn't think that blasted jerk of a pilot didn't rat her out or something), or she could defend her only home and finally stick it to the Empire.

Ezra was feeling a bit suicidal with the cold air freezing her and making her already anxious.

Therefore, she chose the idiotic route of stomping towards the TIE fighter and getting ready to fight, negligee and flats and all. Only the closer she got, she saw the same pilot she was thinking of, leaning casually against the ship and looking up in boredom.

"You! What are you doing here?" she didn't know if she wanted to be snappish or confused.

But at the sound of her voice, he straightened up and looked in her direction. He took a double take, probably because of her outfit, before speaking and both of them ignoring the tinge of red on his cheeks.

"I didn't properly introduce myself last time, minus giving you my name on my helmet," he said calmly. "The name's Baron Valen Rudor, one of the best –though I'm pretty much  _the_  best –pilots around."

Ah, ego much?

"Well, Mister Ace Pilot, that doesn't answer my question. What are you doing here?" she asked again.

However, he didn't answer and was looking at her expectantly. Sighing in exasperation, she humored him, if only to finally get her answer.

"Ezra Bridger, at your service," she mockingly bowed, though forgot that the negligee she wore left plenty of cleavage that showed even more as she bowed.

Valen was not as oblivious and his face had turned fully red.

Ezra noted the reaction, though she wondered at it. Instead of inquiring about that, she asked her question again, hoping to get an answer this time.

He pointed his thumb behind him and at his ship. "The factories are all closed for the day for some kind of inspection. They managed to put together all the replacements my ship needed, but they weren't going to work on it until tomorrow. I just came here instead, and brought the parts."

She blinked at him. "You want  _me_  to work on your ship?"

"Yeah, so?" he scowled at her. "You did a good job last time and I need a mechanic. Well?"

"You could be more polite," Ezra rolled her eyes, but strolled over anyway.

He turned around and grabbed the box behind him by his feet, and then turned back to her.

"Besides, I'd prefer if you were the one who worked on it anyway," he muttered. "You do better work."

She hid her cocky grin, and reached behind him to pop the undercarriage…And looked in to see the mess the other mechanics had made in the meantime. Her jaw dropped and she stared at the 'wreckage.'

"What did they  _do_?!" she practically screeched.

"What? What are you talking about?" Valen asked in alarm. "They said they could only do a routine check and fix some minor stuff, since the replacements had to wait."

"Fix? They didn't fix anything! They ruined your ship!" Ezra growled and began agitatedly looking through the ship's inside. "They shifted the drives –probably to make room to replace your cannons, which are probably going to be bigger ones. That's idiotic. TIEs are known for their speed and maneuverability. Bigger cannons will slow them down."

Though she was muttering to herself, he took care to listen to her and made a note to himself to not let them replace his broken cannons, with a different, bigger type.

"And ugh! Why did they mess with the input and output of the generators? All of the generators, the laser and the power, are completely off kilter now. What were they thinking?" she grumbled to herself. "Oh, I'll fix your ship alright. If only to fix whatever idiot you sent your ship to did!"

Silently, he was rather thankful he made the decision to come here and get her help, as well as that she was willing to help at all.

"Do you need a mechanic's suit? I nabbed one on the way here," Valen shifted through the box and held it up. "I got the smallest size they had."

Blinking, she accepted the suit from him and began to put it over her current clothing (or lack of). Well, so much for having free time and having nothing to do that day.

"You got tools in there too?" she asked, not really wanting to walk all the way to her home to grabs hers.

"Hold on a sec," he mumbled and rummaged in the box and grabbed a toolbox.

She took it from him. "So where do you usually send your ship to?"

"I usually go to the main factory," he frowned, though he wondered if it was such a good idea anymore. It sounded like they didn't know what they were doing…And while he'd just met her, she'd done much better work for his ship than he'd ever noticed when he'd taken his ship for repairs at the factory. He'd immediately noticed the smoother and faster flight back to the city after she'd worked on his ship the first time, even though she'd only done some minor things then. He also, thinking back now, thought the flight here that morning was rather clunky and slow in comparison.

"Go to Factory 113," she said unexpectedly.

"Why?" he asked, rather surprised. And honestly, he would just prefer bringing his ship to her for now on…

"I work there," she again surprised him. "You can bring your ship there from now on. Just ask for me."

But he thought about that. "Don't factories only hire male workers?"

She looked around nervously at that. "…Yeah. I'm an…exception."

Valen guessed there was more to that, but if he wanted her as his mechanic, he'd keep his mouth shut.

"Why can't I just bring it here though?" he pushed on that instead.

"When you need replacements, it'll be easier to do that at the factory, rather than dragging them here, especially if they're large parts. Plus, I'd prefer if you didn't come flying here all the time. I don't want to bring attention to my place," she mumbled the last part.

Though it made sense to him, he was still reticent. Still, he agreed. "Alright. Can I at least come here for emergencies?"

"Okay, okay," a tinge of exasperation started to color her voice. "If it's really important and can't wait."

Satisfied, he nodded. He then reached in the box again and pilfered through it until he found the purple pouch he'd brought along.

"Here," he said, tossing it to her. She caught it and looked at it puzzled. "Payment."

She opened it curiously, and turned over the pouch to let whatever it was in it fall onto her hand. A silver crystal fell out and she grasped it and looked at it in awe.

"I saw the yellow crystal you wore around your neck last time," he mumbled. "I thought you'd like it."

Ezra examined it, turning it over and over and examined the pretty sheen that came off of it.

"I think it's called Durindfire or something," he shrugged lightly. "The Empire's been selling and buying them a lot lately, and I managed to get my hands on one. I don't have any need for it, but if you like it…"

She slipped it back into the pouch and tossed it back at him. "Keep it safe for me then," she smirked. "In the meantime, I'll get to work."

He smirked back. "If you keep doing a good job, maybe I'll teach you to fly my ship as payment one of these times."

"Now I  _definitely_  have to do a good job."

Needless to say, Ezra had been dying to fly a ship.

* * *

She'd done a fine job on that ship, if she may say so herself. Seeing him test run the ship was even better, because it flew  _awesomely_.

Ezra smugly watched. That was her work alright.

And when he had to leave, Ezra was still very smug as she walked back to the city to work the night for Vizago, after a change into regular clothing. He probably wouldn't be there that night, working on something in Tarkintown. She was early though, and decided to just walk around the market.

She bumped into a girl around her age, but wore familiar Mandalorian armor. It was that female from last night, the one that had been a part of that group Vizago had talked to.

"I'm sorry," Ezra apologized first.

Though slight suspicion glazed those eyes, the other girl gave a friendly smile and held out her hand.

"Sorry here too. Wasn't looking at where I was going," she grinned. "I'm…Sabine."

Though Sabine had hesitated, Ezra had a feeling that really was the other's name.

Ezra smiled back and grabbed her hand, shaking it. "I'm Ezra. Pleased to meet you."

"Were you shopping?" Sabine tilted her head slightly.

"Just looking for now. Trying to waste time," she said honestly.

Sabine looked hesitant, before going on. "I'm supposed to look for fruits, but I'm not sure how to pick the best ones. Wanna help me out?"

Ezra blinked in surprise, before a wide smile crossed her face. "Sure! You also have to scout out the best stands. Sometimes some of them sell for more, when you can get just as good products at another stall for less. Come on!"

Ezra grabbed Sabine's hand and quickly went to one of her favorite stands, whose owner knew her personally by now. Afterwards, Ezra was dragging her everywhere, glad to have a female to talk and have fun with for once, especially one around her age. She admitted she was having a lot of fun, and they were talking about all sorts of things and laughing and joking around with each other.

It all got ruined when speeders rushed past, shooting at each other. There were yells and screams, but Ezra had glimpsed Vizago at the front of one group, chasing down another group. A turf battle then.

The battle stopped in the middle of the market fare, whereupon they continually shot at each other and everyone else had to duck and hide, or run away if they could manage it. Stuck in that area, she and Sabine duck behind a stall. Several blasts came their way and they ran back, only for the force of one blast to throw them back instead.

Ezra groaned, feeling dizzy but otherwise unharmed. She looked around for Sabine, and noticed the other girl was on her side, behind some debris. She crawled over to check on the other, only to look on horrified.

There was a huge gash on Sabine's side, and blood was steadily pouring out of it.

Started 1/14/15 – Completed 1/15/15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. Turf war: Yeah, I was thinking Vizago can't be the only crime boss (maybe eventually), so it'd be interesting to incorporate some gang wars in here, and territory disputes and stuff. It'll actually become really important and probably tie into the Rebellion somehow.
> 
> 2\. Valen Rudor and Agent Kallus: Like Vizago, they will also have expanded roles and more scenes. And also because of changes, while I'll be trying to keep them in in character, changes to how they act will also be incorporated because of said changes, aka a Butterly Effect and also what differences in gender can cause.


	3. Ignite the Hyperdrive

Her blood was rushing through her veins, heart pumping rapidly as she ran with all she had. Ezra had snapped to in a second, scooping the taller and bigger girl into her arms, and heading towards the brothel that was luckily only a few blocks away. Her arms ached at carrying Sabine, but she wasn't about to leave her behind or drop her in mid-run.

Ezra hated this feeling. She didn't attach herself to anyone. She didn't let herself come to care for anyone. It was dangerous to.

They all leave one way or another, and if they died or got hurt…

Ezra distanced herself for a reason. Her parents had been taken from her, and yet had also left her behind. She lived a life of meaningless connections with people who came and went, who wanted fleeting love that they could forget in the morning. She'd seen people die, she'd seen people dying.

In the short amount of time she'd spent with Sabine, she'd mistakenly allowed her loneliness to strike at her and let her become open and attached to the other girl. Now this was Fate reminding her that to care was to be hurt, and that was why Ezra had never let herself care for another before. Not even for those she had to heal.

_Especially_ for those she had to heal.

Ezra saw the brothel and burst through, heading straight to the back where the small med bay was located, and where she lay Sabine down on one of the beds. Immediately, she lay her hands on the wound and concentrated, willing what strange energy that had always come to her aid to heal first her and then the others she'd come to heal, to come to her now so she could heal Sabine.

"What in the galaxies had you racing in here like a mad woman, Ezra?" she heard Vizago ask in bewilderment, in the brothel after all. And then he saw the girl she was currently healing and cursed in several languages. "Tell me that isn't Sabine Wren."

Ezra glanced at him indifferently. "She is. You know her." It wasn't a question.

Vizago cursed again. "Fix her up. I'll call Kanan that one of his crew members are here. She gonna be alright?"

"It isn't life-threatening," Ezra looked at the wound, which was already closed to being completely healed. "She'll be fine in a moment, if slightly dizzy."

"Lucky, she was," Vizago grumbled. "She was lucky she had you around and that you have this healing thing going on."

She made a noncommittal noise, beginning to ignore him. Vizago turned to leave, before giving a last order.

"Finish up here, then head to your room. Agent Kallus is waiting for you."

She almost stopped in surprise, though she did move to stare at Vizago's back. She hadn't expected that at all. Really, she hadn't thought that the ISB Agent would come back at all, much less the next night. But then she looked down at Sabine and grimaced. She was pretty sure that Sabine, if the encounter with "Kanan's" group and seeing Sabine in it brought any indication, showed that the other girl was one of those rebels she knew Kallus had to catch and take care of.

Now the two of them were in the same building, and Ezra wasn't sure what to do.

Swallowing down her nervousness, she finished healing Sabine. And then she washed her hands and quickly made her way up the stairs and to her assigned room, knowing that Vizago would take care of the rest concerning Sabine. The moment she opened the door, the agent inside looked up and opened his mouth to greet her, only to falter and watch her in alarm.

"Are you alright?" he asked, concern in his words as he got up from the bed and strode over to her. His hand reached out and touched the top of her orange flight suit, and she looked to unhappily notice the blood around her shoulder area. "Is that your blood?" his voice held a note of panic that she was surprised to hear.

"No," she said tiredly, grabbing his hand and holding it gently. "I'm fine. It's someone else's blood. I brought them in after they got hurt, and they're resting downstairs right now. I'm sorry for my appearance. Just let me clean up a bit and I'll be with you."

"It's alright," he mumbled. "It's not your fault and your appearance is fine to me."

Her lips moved upwards wryly, but she didn't say anything. She moved to use the room's sink to fill a bowl of water, and grabbed a rag. Peeling off her flight suit she tended to wear all the time, outside of when she worked at the factory and here, Ezra looked over to Kallus and noticed his tense posture and the way he steadfastly was looking at the ground. Shaking her head, she finished taking it off and wet the rag, cleaning herself as much as she could without a shower. She'd been clean before that stupid fight, but now she wasn't as clean as she'd like to be, especially with a customer. And her hair was a mess from the run and the explosion, and visibly had tangles.

She was quick to change and turned her attention to her hair, muttering under her breath about it. The brush in her hand was trying to remove the tangles, but she was getting frustrated and ready to just yank the brush through her hair at that point. But then, as was the usual with this man, Kallus had surprisingly appeared behind her and taken the brush from her hand and was starting to gently run it through her hair, patiently removing the tangles without causing her pain or breaking the strands.

"Thank you," she said, though she was beginning to feel that Kallus was the strangest man she'd ever met.

It was still so strange to see that a man like him could be so gentle…

"You're welcome," he murmured, taking a step back and handing the brush to her from a distance.

"You don't want to touch me," she noted and brought the issue straight out. He awkwardly shifted in place, before he looked like he was trying to give her an answer.

"I enjoy your company," he said honestly. "I'm uncomfortable about the prostitution and for forcing you into such a position. I also can see you're really young, and that further makes me uncomfortable. But I'm…not going to lie and say that I don't see you as beautiful or that I'm…not attracted to you."

Ezra blinked. No one's ever been so candid with her like this. Sure, she's had others who have straight said things plainly like Kallus, if in cruder ways. But the sincerity and simplistic openness in his words completely belied the rough and stern exterior that he showed most of the time.

"Then what do you want to do? You have me for the night, Kallus," she smiled sadly. "So tell me what you want me to do for you."

His hands clenched at his sides as he stared at the floor. And then he turned slightly and reached for something on the bed, and held it tightly.

"I told you before that I enjoy drawing," he murmured. "May I draw you?"

This was a peculiar turn of events, and one she's never been in. But a man not usually kind, was being continually kind to her.

"That would be nice," she agreed and he seemed to barely let out a breath, like he'd been nervous for her answer.

She glanced at her fainting couch and pointed. "Would that be okay? I could recline on it and you could draw me while sitting on the settee."

"That's fine," and he helped her move around the furniture to more appropriate places, and he moved them further to fit the right lighting.

"Should I take off my clothes and let you draw me without them?" she asked teasingly as she sat down on her chaise couch.

He amusingly started to sputter in protest, and she laughed lightly.

"I'm joking," she smiled brightly at him. "Don't take everything so seriously, Kallus."

"How old are you?" he asked quietly, opening up his book. He took the pencil hiding in it and settled down to be more comfortable.

She frowned. "I'm 15. Empire Day's not too far away, so I'll be turning 16." Noticing him tensing up and staying quiet, she spoke up again. "Does it really matter?"

"Yes, it does," he frowned as well. "It's not right. This…isn't right."

Her eyes specifically were drawn to his hand holding the pencil, clenching tight and threatening to break it. She sighed and ran a hand through her hair.

"Kallus, it  _doesn't_  matter," he started to protest, but she just continued. "I've done this for a while and I'm going to be stuck doing this. And you'll find, that there are far few others who'd care as much as you do."

A strict silence enveloped them and Ezra watched him carefully. He gestured at her with his pencil.

"Situate yourself however you wish," he said in a strained voice and Ezra lay on her side, continuing to watch him closely. He began and it was still mostly silent, except for the scratching of his pencil against paper.

"You use traditional mediums," she noted.

"I prefer them. I don't like using an electronic pad."

"Do you draw often?"

"Not really, I suppose. I don't have much time."

"What do you draw?" she became really curious then.

"Things, people. I'm not creative, but I can draw things I see. Do you draw?" he asked her in return.

"A little. I'm not creative either. I don't draw people too. Just…technology. I'm pretty handy with technology and mechanics, and draw those sometimes," she admitted.

The rest of the night went on in that fashion and it was a different experience for Ezra. She was used to much different nights, but there were two parts of her that admitted that she both liked and disliked this.

"Are you sleepy?" she asked as she noticed his eyes starting to blink quickly, with him trying to keep focus and awake.

"I'm not finished," he muttered.

She got up from her chaise and walked over to him, causing him to stop. But it was when she started to climb onto his lap, that he began to panic and try to voice his objections.

"I need you to do something for me," she said quietly, making him sit still and reluctantly let her talk. "Vizago is going to question me and he's going to think really bad thoughts, if you don't look like you had a 'good time.'"

Kallus flinched.

She looked into his bronze eyes and ran her hands through his hair, casually moving her fingers and clenching them in his light brown hair. She concentrated on doing that for a minute.

"What are you doing?" he asked, voice strained again.

"Mussing up your hair," she replied nonchalantly. "Have to make you look like you were active in bed after all."

As she let go finally, strands of his light-colored hair curled about and was let loose from its normally slicked back form. Satisfied, she moved and scrutinized him.

"Bare your neck," she said then, which made him falter even more.

"What?"

She just hmmed and gently grabbed his chin, tilting his head to the side. She moved in and pushed aside his panicked hands, letting her lips touch his neck in a soft kiss. He made a strangled noise in his throat, and his hands flew to her waist, but she held them still there while also opening her mouth and starting to suck.

If another night went by with another composed-looking man (the same one actually) leaving her room, Vizago would start to question her effectiveness. And then more questions would come, and then he'd find out that they weren't exactly doing  _anything_ , and then Ezra would become useless and thrown out.

She was, very much, unfortunately indebted and dependent on the crime boss.

Ezra let her tongue slip out and twirl a circle on his skin, and then continued to suck hard enough that it would leave a mark after she was done. And when she moved back, the area was red and a small bruise-like mark was forming already. Kallus' face was flushed and uncertain, but he was no longer making any move to protest or push her away.

"I want you to kiss me. Hard," she added as an afterthought.

"I don't think –" Kallus began, but she cut him off with a look.

So he licked his lips nervously and leaned forward, softly touching his lips to hers. It was sweet and she liked it, but she knew her lips  _had_  to look like they'd been thoroughly kissed and would be unquestionable to Vizago.

"Harder," she whispered before pressing her lips harder against his herself. "You should bite a little," she suggested.

At that, he scowled and pulled away from her. "Absolutely not," he stubbornly refused. "I don't want to hurt you. At all," he insisted.

It was sweet, especially coming from a man like Kallus. And as much as she liked it, she didn't need sweetness then.

Ezra grasped his face in her hands and made him stare straight into her cobalt eyes.

"Vizago is my livelihood," she confessed. "He picked me up when I was young and even to now, favors me above his other girls, and even over a lot of his own men. But he can still rescind any favor or protection over me that's been promised if I don't do the things I agreed to do in return for him. I'm 15 and I live  _alone_. There are other gangs out there. Even if Vizago would never harm me or order the others too, there are still every other person outside of Vizago's group. I'm just a 15 year old girl who lives alone and I'm an  _open target_  without Vizago."

Kallus looked torn before, but at her last sentence he broke and his shoulders slumped as he nodded in acquiesce.

"What do you want me to do?" he asked reluctantly.

She gently squeezed his face. "I need you to make me look like you  _fragged the kriff out of me_."

His jaw clenched as he gazed back at her, and then he buried his face against her shoulder.

"I've done a lot of  _really_  bad things in my life," he muttered against her. "I don't want this to be one of them."

"I know," she murmured.

Kallus took a deep breath before grasping onto her lithe shoulders and pulling her to him, his lips finding purchase against her own and kissing her with more vigor than earlier. He carried her to the bed and laid her down, but he kept his hands on the bed and on either side of her. His hands never strayed and he never lay his entire weight against her. Even now, the big bad wolf was going to be kind to her, was he?

Ezra didn't count the time, and by the time he pulled back and stopped, the two of them were already panting against each other. He closed his eyes, hiding bronze irises, and lay his forehead against hers. She reached around him and let her fingers play with his hair.

"You're sleepy, aren't you?" she asked quietly.

"…Yes. I think I would like to go to sleep," he had a tone of relief that she didn't acknowledge.

Settling down beside her, he lay on his side and watched her, and she moved over to face him. He looked like he wanted to say something, so she patiently waited.

"Am I allowed to hold you?" he asked tentatively, gazing at her with dark but hesitant eyes.

"You're allowed to do more," she pointed out, but didn't push and scooted over, to which he gently pulled her closer and into his arms.

His entire persona was supposed to be of a harsh man, but he was anything but with her. She wondered if all this would be easier if he would be harsh with her too.

* * *

When Kallus left in the morning, Ezra was brooding downstairs after her shower.

"Why the long face?" Vizago asked cheerfully. "By the look of that lucky buckethead, he seemed like he had the time of his life. Great work, Ezra! Hook him and wheel him in, and we got our law pass."

Ezra gave him a thin smile. "That's fantastic. Yesterday's dispute have anything to do with Scairt's gang?"

Vizago grunted. "You saw that? Bah, that Hutt-spawn's lackeys were doing business on my turf. I was doling out the consequence."

"I was caught up in that fight," she grumbled. "Along with Sabine. That's how she got hurt in the first place."

"Che, don't worry about her. She's fine. You did a good job on her. Her crew is coming over in a bit, and they'll take her."

Ezra looked at him in surprise. "Just now? I would have thought they'd come last night."

Vizago shrugged. "I may have neglected informing them until this morning…Make sure they don't run into Agent Kallus and all."

Ezra approved of that course then, though she was sure Vizago didn't do it for altruistic motives. If Kanan's group was found by Kallus, he would no doubt arrest them and look into Vizago. Vizago didn't need that type of hassle, and he'd also be losing a source of income if Kanan's crew was arrested and taken away. Oppositely, he'd just lost a potential lucrative contact in Kallus, and consequently lose out on a very important opportunity in building a bridge with the agent.

"Here," Vizago suddenly handed her a blaster pistol. "That's one of those scout trooper blasters. It's compact enough for you to carry it around and hide it in that backpack of yours. But if things start getting heavy around here, and the gang disputes start escalating, I'll get you one of them BlasTechs. Gotta be prepared for things to break out at any time."

Ezra refrained from making a face, accepting the blaster from Vizago. If the gang fights were going to escalate, that didn't mean good news at all.

"Come on, I'll give you a ride to your job," he hurried her, and she hid the blaster in her backpack and walked briskly after the crime boss.

The time spent in the speeder consisted of Vizago updating her on all the going-ons of the underground, and what was going on with the two other major gangs in Lothal. He also told her of what he'd been doing, and even elaborated on the job he'd hired the man named Kanan Jarrus to do.

"This…Kanan," Ezra started. "Do you work with him a lot?"

Vizago looked at her, curious about her own sudden bout of curiosity of his dealings. "Yeah, I suppose. He and the crew of Ghost are pretty reliable about getting the job done, and wouldn't pull out unless there was any major problems. Enough about that though; we're here."

Ezra inwardly pouted. For some reason, she was extremely curious about the crew of Ghost, of which Sabine was a part of and who that mysterious Kanan was part of. She was still bothered by the fact he'd managed to catch her that one night, wondering how and why. But Vizago was right. It was time for her to get to work, and she didn't want to be late.

"See you later then, Vizago," Ezra waved and then hopped off of his speeder, letting him take off straight after.

She walked into the building and found her locker, grabbing her mechanic suit and heading to the bathroom to change. As far as the other mechanics and workers were concerned, she was just a private and shy 'boy', who preferred 'his' privacy. Only Solarlast and the other higher ups of this factory knew Ezra was a girl, and would keep it that way thanks to Vizago. Although, she was getting the feeling that maybe they would keep her around, even if Vizago wasn't paying them off…

"Bridger, your work schedule," Solarlast greeted her as soon as she made it to the main part of the factory. "Head to your work station. You'll be working mostly on repairs today, instead of construction and building."

"Yes, sir," she obediently said and waited to be dismissed before she headed to her work station.

From there, she was met with a familiar face and a familiar ship, with the smug look on Valen's face doing nothing to deter her from rolling her eyes.

"Didn't I just see you yesterday?" she said sarcastically.

"Yesterday was yesterday; today is today," he said dismissively, grinning a bit. "Anyway, I haven't officially transferred my repair referral papers to this factory, but I've got to do a demonstration for the trainees at the Flight Academy, so I'd like to have my ship checked up first before I go on over there."

Ezra tapped his ship and looked at him sideways. "Training future bucketheads then?"

Valen let her snide remark pass over him, responding instead with "Wrong institution. I work partly at the  _Flight_  Academy, not the Imperial Academy. Don't mix up your academies now, sweetheart," he drawled.

She rolled her eyes again and moved her tool chest closer to the ship. "Touché, Mister Ace Pilot. I was wrong. Please forgive me, Oh Honorable Baron."

He smirked and made a mocking bow. "If you really mean it."

Ezra waved him off and took a peek at the TIE fighter's undercarriage. "You had any work done to it since I saw you yesterday?"

"No, I didn't. I made sure to keep it parked safely in the hangar, and I put in a request to keep it untouched and a note about my cannons being replaced with the same type," which pleased her indefinitely.

"There's this ridiculous order going around about possibly making the larger 65 ion cannons standard for TIE fighters, and they've been making all the factories replace the TIEs' regular cannons with those. It's stupid because even the Imperial Star Destroyers use only the 60 ion cannons," Ezra growled unhappily, already starting to check around the ship. "Bigger isn't always better, and the regular 34 laser cannons do fine."

"I'll definitely make a note about my preferences," Valen frowned to himself, but he gave her a teasing side glance. "Although, there are times that 'bigger'  _is_  better."

"…I'm going to pretend that you didn't just say that to me."

He started laughing, visibly enjoying himself at her expense. She gave him an exasperated huff in response.

"I'll pay with lunch today," he said suddenly. "I don't have anything as valuable as that Durindfire gem I gave you last time, so I'll buy you lunch this whole week and by the end of it, I'll teach you to fly my TIE fighter."

That easily made Ezra perk up and look at him eagerly. "Really?"

"Yeah, sure," he shrugged. "I don't see why not. You have any flight experience? How old are you anyway? Do you have your license?"

Ezra stopped herself from shifting suspiciously. "I'm 15," she grumbled. "No, I don't have my license. But I can fly a speeder, handle hovers easily enough, drive any repulsorcraft, freighter, shuttle, transport, and once I drove a yacht," she added thoughtfully.

"Illegally though," Valen snorted and gave her an amused look.

"Maybe so…" but then she paused and gave him a sly grin. "I may have also flown a podracer…"

Right on cue, the obvious speed addict's eyes lit up. "I'd always wanted to participate in a podrace. Did you race it or did you just fly it around?"

She cracked a full grin now. "Podracers are for  _racing_ , Baron Valen Rudor. Don't you dare ask that question again."

But then he started peppering her with questions about it, and Ezra amusingly answered each one. But she started noticing that she and Valen were getting looks and there were quiet whispers from a distance from all of her coworkers in that area. It was making her nervous and uneasy.

"People are looking this way and whispering," Ezra muttered, eyes darting around.

Valen started to lean against his ship, crossing his arms and crossing his ankles. His face molded into a faux bored look.

"Yeah, well, I did tell you I'm known as one of the best pilots around," Valen faked indifference. He twitched and he turned to her with apologetic eyes. "Sorry if I'm bringing you unwanted attention."

Ezra just twirled her screwdriver and turned her attention back to his ship, refocusing herself. "Don't worry about it. I'm your mechanic, right? Therefore the only thing that matters is that I'm in charge of your ship."

Valen tipped an imaginary hat at her and went back to grinning. "Whatever you say, Missus."

She was going to make him take her to an expensive restaurant if he kept that up.

* * *

Kanan and the others were quick to reach Sabine's side once they were informed of what happened, though they were surprised to find out where she currently was. Of all the places, they hadn't expected her to turn up at a brothel.

"You own a brothel, Vizago?" Kanan asked the crime boss incredulously.

"Good business, especially since it's legal," Vizago said unrepentantly. "Your girl's in the back, in our med bay. I've got to get going, back to Tarkintown, so you guys finish up your business and get out. See you when it's time for my shipment, Kanan, Hera, Zeb."

The Devaronian waved them away as he turned and headed for the exit, leaving them to head to the back and find the med bay themselves.

"I can't believe Vizago owns a brothel," Hera said in bewilderment.

"Yeah…but there sure are a lot of pretty girls," Zeb dazedly looked around, grinning silly.

Hera huffed and grabbed a tuft of his fur, yanking painfully. "Come on, lover boy. We have to fetch Sabine and get out of here."

They finally made it to the med bay, where Sabine was sitting up and was drinking some water and looking to be thinking very seriously.

"Sabine!" Hera smiled widely and hurried over to the younger girl. "You don't look like you're hurt at all."

"That's because I'm not," she had a thoughtful frown.

"What do you mean?" Kanan asked, unsure what she was meaning.

Sabine hopped off the bed, looking perfectly fine and like she hadn't been injured. She spread out her arms.

"I'm fine. No sign of any injury at all. But I was sure I had a large, though not deep, gash right here," Sabine then pointed to where there was visible damage to her side and where her shirt was ripped and bloodied. Her armor had protected the rest of her, but that part of her side had been vulnerable. Her skin was visible through the gap, and was unblemished.

"But how'd that happen?" Zeb gaped.

Sabine shrugged. "No clue. I don't even know how I got here. Where is here anyway? I only know that Vizago's here and he owns this place. He didn't want me coming out for some reason."

"Was here," Kanan corrected her, though his mind was whirling. "This, believe it or not, is a brothel. He said one of his girls brought you here and helped you out. What happened anyway? How'd you get hurt and managed to be brought here?"

Sabine looked like something was bothering her. "I met a girl at the market. Her name was Ezra. We were…shopping and talking, and things were fine until two groups came zooming by and were shooting at each other. I think Vizago was with one of the groups. We ran off, but there was a huge blast that caused us to fly back and I got hit by something, and saw I was injured at my side. I passed out from blood loss and shock, and next thing I knew I was waking up here, fine, and with Vizago irritably sitting in the room."

Kanan was stuck on Sabine meeting that girl named Ezra. Something about that niggled at him…

"That girl you're talking about, Ezra…does she have dark hair? I think it might be bluish…" It had been hard to see that night, but he'd seen a girl peeking at them from inside of Vizago's speeder when they'd intercepted him and asked for the shipment schedule. "She had olive skin too, I think."

Sabine looked at him in surprise. "Yeah. She's got dark hair, tints of blue. It's natural too –not like the dye I use for my hair. That's about the right shade of her skin too. How'd you know?"

Everyone was looking at him curiously by then too.

"The night we stopped Vizago to ask him about the shipment schedule, I felt a strong presence and my eyes were drawn to Vizago's speeder. I spotted a girl hiding there," Kanan revealed to the group.

"What does that mean?" Hera asked him, wondering why that would happen.

Kanan shrugged. "I'm not sure. But I think it's important somehow…and the Force seems to be telling me something. What, I'm not quite certain."''

He just had to figure it out, and hopefully before something major had to happen.

Started 1/17/15 – Completed 1/18/15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. Vizago: Is it just me or is he turning out to be a weird bad guy? No seriously, he's obviously a jerk, and yet at the same time there's a weird charm to him. And Ezra both dislikes, but is used to and just deals with him normally. XD I don't know, it's strange writing him because all the other characters will hate him, but Ezra's beyond caring, and Vizago does have a soft spot for her that is and sometimes isn't obvious. Are you guys getting that vibe?
> 
> 2\. Valen and Kallus: You guys are funny, but amazing. I didn't think anyone would like those guys as Ezra's love interests, but it's great that everyone's good to go. Actually, I'm the loser who went to this archive searching for fics of them and Ezra, saw none, and cried (jkjk). Valen's funny though –he has like only a one-time real interaction with Ezra (and no real screentime anyway), but then again it was a whole (mini) episode and their time together was funny and great XD Kallus will be interesting to get into, especially since he still has to hunt them down, so he'll be the more conflicted of the two guys probably.
> 
> 6\. Ezra's look as a female: I kind of picture her a little like Bastila Shan, and I looked up pictures and this one painting by Elucidator from deviantart (I don't want to mess with links here) caught my eye, and where the cover came from: http://elucidator.deviantart.com/art/Bastila-Shan-425640054  
> http://guide4games.net/star-wars-bastila-shan-beautiful-painting/.   
> Very beautiful and I encourage you to check out the full version and favorite and comment it, if you have a deviant account.  
> Also this: http://www.hdwallpapersfactory.com/wallpaper/lightsabers_jedi_bastila_shan_desktop_1280x1024_hd-wallpaper-1225786.jpg


	4. She's a Rebel

Ezra had made it her personal mission to eat and order as much as she could, each day Valen treated her to lunch. She kept the leftover to eat for later on, but for once, she was able to consistently eat a hearty meal. Though he grumbled about his paycheck, there was no real heat in Valen's words.

Still, she was surprised when instead of taking her out to lunch on the fourth day, he waited until everyone in the room had left for lunch and pulled out a different kind of flight suit than the one she used for casual wear. It was like his and she was starting to get a clue, excitement filling her up.

"I thought that you'd probably want those lessons now," he raised an eyebrow, both of them raising as Ezra snatched the flight suit from his hands.

"You just don't want to be broke anymore," she said wryly, already switching her mechanic suit for it.

"That too," he huffed. "No, seriously, I'm joking. I just noticed you seem to really want to learn, so why not now?"

Ezra turned to him with a grin, already dressed. "So how will we do this?"

"Well, usually students have already accumulated experience through simulations, and then through using the testing TIE ships that if they mess up or lose control in the air, professionals from the ground can take over the controls and fly it from inside the Flight Academy," he explained. "Obviously, you haven't done either. So I'm going to count on the flying experience you say you have, and also have you flying with me inside the cockpit as well."

"How's that going to happen? Aren't TIE fighters usually one-seaters? I know for sure yours is," she pointed out.

"I'm going to sit in the seat and you'll be sitting on my lap," he said matter-of-fact. She was startled and looked at him in shock. "It'll work. I can instruct you on what to do quickly, and if you do something wrong or lose control, I can hurry and grab the yoke and take control of the ship."

Skeptical of it, but too eager to learn to fly a TIE fighter, Ezra agreed and waited for Valen to board his ship. Then she started to climb the ladder and hesitated as she looked at Valen and then his lap, and then the small space. But he held out his hands and she grasped onto them, balancing carefully before she slightly leaped into the cockpit. A few moments of shifting around, and then she was sitting on Valen's lap, and stretching the harness over the both of them.

"Is this really going to work?" she asked, barely able to clip the harness on, though it was tight and made her press against him snugly.

"It's the first time I've tried something like this," he confessed. "But it's not like I can sneak you into the Academy for months, and have you use the equipment there."

"Alright, so what now?"

He started to turn it on and she paid close attention, noting which switches and buttons did what. He even provided explanations for her, so she learned what they did exactly. Soon enough, he was handing the yoke to her to hold and direct her how to control it to fly them out of the building. It started really bumpy and freaked the both of them out, even making Valen shoot his hands out and hold the yoke over her hands so he could steady the ship.

"We have to work on your take off," he muttered, and she laughed sheepishly.

Still, his hands were still on hers and she couldn't help paying close attention to that for a moment, before berating herself mentally and refocusing on the task at hand.

"I'm going to let go now," he said hesitantly. "So try flying 'er like you would a speeder. Actually, a freighter or yacht would be a bit closer maybe…Just don't crash and kill us, okay?"

She rolled her eyes. "Obviously. Now shh! Let me focus here."

He'd helped her get into the air and now she was maneuvering the TIE fighter around. Maybe she could find her tower and fly around there. Deciding to do so, she directed the TIE fighter in that direction and began to speed up.

"Wait, wait! Don't speed up already! You don't know how t –" He blinked at the smooth flying. "Well, I'll be. You're a natural at this, aren't you."

Ezra beamed happily and chanced a roll with the ship that had Valen's heart racing in fear and excitement. Fear because for once he wasn't the one in control and doing the crazy stunts, and excitement because he really did love that kind of stuff.

"It's settled. We just really have to work on your take off. Hopefully, your landing isn't as druk as your take off," he teased and then winced as her elbow lightly jabbed his stomach.

"Oh shut up you!"

He snickered, but kept his mouth shut about it. She grumbled under her breath, but focused on flying and speeding and slowing, and experimenting with the TIE fighter. Vizago had gotten her to learn some of the other ships, but she'd never been in a TIE fighter. It was, aside from the podracer, one of the best rides she'd ever flown.

"Want me to show you how she can really fly?" he shifted closer to her, even more than he already was, murmuring into her ear.

She ignored how her breath caught in her throat for a second, and nodded eagerly. She relinquished the control of the yoke to him, though kept her hands on it and let him place his over hers again. And really, she then understood why he could arrogantly boast about being one of the best pilots.

Ezra was practically screaming in delight as he sped the TIE fighter faster, and then went up and nearly going to space, before letting the ship drop backwards without warning. He then stopped the backwards fall and controlled the ship into a spiral through the sky, and then raced straight through. And then Valen was doing zigzags that had Ezra trying to catch her breath, but instead was barely catching in a breath before the ship moved sharply at each turn.

Valen laughed. "Had enough?"

"No, no! Go faster! Speed all the way to my tower!" Ezra said in excitement. Honestly, she was having the time of her life and wished she could do this all the time.

"Whatever you want," she could practically feel him grinning, even if she couldn't see it.

And then they shot off towards her tower and Ezra was remembering the dangerous speeds of the podracer she once flew. In no time, they were nearing her tower and Valen gave her back the yoke, and was in the process of monitoring her landing. She managed to only have a small jolt in the landing, but nothing major and was much better than when she'd taken off.

"Good job," Valen said, impressed. "That was pretty well done, though we do seriously have to work on your take off. I say a few more days of practice, and you'd at least match a competent flyer and leaning towards being proficient. I think I could even get you to expert flying within the month, especially with your natural ability."

Ezra let out a loud whoop and pumped a fist in the air, completely ecstatic about that. She turned around, and nearly bumped her cheek against his. She'd forgotten how close they were. He blinked and a light coat of red began creeping up on his cheeks, and Ezra was well aware that they were close enough that their breaths were mingling and an inch or two more and their lips would be touching.

She unbuckled the harness and shuffled a little away, smiling and pretending everything was normal. She also pretended to miss the disappointed look on his face, as she reached up and got the hatch to the cockpit open after she pressed a button on the panel.

Honestly, she wasn't sure why she hadn't noticed it before. It was obvious, if she noted his reactions to her beforehand, that he clearly liked her and maybe even had a crush. She wasn't naïve and had plenty of others to draw experience from, knowing their own reactions and could have related Valen to them if she'd paid more attention. Still, he hadn't pushed her at any time, and hadn't 'went for it', not even just then when he clearly could have gone in for a kiss.

Valen seemed plenty fine with flirting –and didn't she feel stupid that she hadn't thought to think their bantering was pretty much flirting, especially since she had an occupation that should more than keep her aware of things like that. However he, like a certain ISB Agent, was unexpectedly shy in going further or doing anything to her. With her being used to men that were aggressively callous in their pursuit and possession of her in her line of work, this type of sincerity and honest like from those two men was unfamiliar and made her uncomfortable and wanting to distance herself.

And to make matters worse, Valen wasn't even a client or part of her work in the brothel in any manner.

"You alright?" she heard him ask her once they were outside of his ship.

"I'm good," she lied. "It  _is_  lunchtime, so are you hungry? I don't have much in my tower, but I'm sure we could scramble up a few things."

"I'm fine with that. Next time, I'll restock your supply, so we have something to eat," Valen promised her, and she smiled uneasily at him.

She just had to keep pretending things were normal and continue not noticing his reactions for what they were.

* * *

Kallus was much the same situation. He was unfailingly awkward around her, when she knew for a fact that he wasn't the same way with others, even with the other prostitutes. While he was bothered by them too, she'd seen that he had a much easier time talking to them and being strict with the others (on the rare times he waited downstairs for her, instead of her room), especially when they teased and hung over him like vultures. He would sternly tell them off in clipped tones, and had no problems roughly pushing them away, though he was never to the point of being violent or being painful.

But she'd made that exception every time.

On the first day Valen had taken her to lunch, that night, Kallus had continued to draw her and they'd exchanged small talk and gotten to know little details about each other. It was more so on her side, since the first time she met Kallus, she had him speak about himself and she'd learned quite a bit about him then. They'd also crossed an awkward bridge that night when he'd accidentally stumbled across a hot subject she hadn't wanted to talk about –where were her parents and why wasn't she with them? She couldn't help bitterly mentioning that the Empire had taken them away, and things had been tense and silent after, until he started to talk about how he'd gone into battle on Kamino at the time of the Kaminoan Uprising, and how it was some of the worst days of his life. He didn't elaborate, but she could see it bothered him still, so she let it be a fair trade of horrible memories and started idle talk about gossip around the other prostitutes.

Needless to say, she became hyperaware of the fact that they, because they usually talked rather than her usual escapades with other clients, were starting to delve into personal matters and becoming uncomfortably too intimate in the emotional and mental sense. She tried to reason that it was just talking though, so resolved to push it out of her mind each time.

The next night, Ezra had been really tired and as she went back to reclining on her chaise to pose for him again, she hadn't noticed her eyelids growing heavier until she'd fallen asleep without warning. She'd woken up in the morning to find he'd carried her to bed and had fallen asleep beside her, holding her from a distance. She'd exasperatedly scooted closer and snuggled up to him; she'd been cold anyway. She did humorously recall him panicking when he'd woken up and nearly falling off the bed as he tried to move away quickly.

But the next night had her being the one panicking as Vizago said the two of them should join the rest downstairs for an hour or two, since he'd like Kallus' help with 'something.' Vizago clearly wanted to test waters and had organized a small meeting between he and a buyer, and he wanted to see how Kallus would react and do. Ezra had spent the meeting uncharacteristically hanging all over Kallus and placing soft kisses against his neck and jaw, and running her slender hands up and down his chest and arms. He'd spent it entirely quiet, eyes roving all around the room and observing everything, body deceivingly relaxed and at ease while his expression was neutral. When Vizago had called them over, intending to use Kallus as intimidation, Kallus had unusually played along and came over with her, standing silent and stoically next to the crime boss.

When it was all over, Kallus had deduced that despite Vizago having business in legal prostitution, he also had unsavory, illegal business to the side. So she'd tiredly asked him why he hadn't gotten angry or threatened to expose and arrest everyone.

" _I wouldn't be helping your situation any more than basically throwing you to the streets."_

If she was a little more enthusiastic in their kissing after, neither of them mentioned anything about it.

The night after that had Ezra and Kallus back to their regular regime, and she had been getting curious about what the portrait of her looked like. However, to her surprise and amusement, he'd stubbornly refused to let her see it until it was done. That had made her mischievous, and she'd taken every opportunity after the drawing session (between kissing his lips, holding him down, and trying to wait up until he slept) to sneak a peek at the unfinished portrait. Needless to say, she failed at every try.

Now, after having parted ways from Valen and heading and arriving at the brothel, Ezra had already started to make new plans on sneaking a look at the portrait he was adamant at not letting her see just yet. Immediately not catching sight of him, she thought he was probably already in her room then and headed up. In her room, she saw that Kallus had already set up the furniture, and tried to be quiet as she snuck up on him. Just as she reached his side and went to peer over his shoulder, he snapped the sketchbook shut and tilted his head back, raising his eyebrow at her.

"Nice try."

"Ugh! It's not my fault you're some kind of super soldier and could hear me."

She headed over to her chaise, just as he pointed at it with his pencil, chuckling lightly as he also reopened his notebook.

"I'm not a super soldier," he denied. "And I almost didn't catch you until you were an arm's length away," he admitted to her. "You're quite sneaky."

Ezra plopped down on her fainting couch with a sigh. "Well, I did use to be a thief. Actually, I still steal, so I am still a thief."

She adjusted herself accordingly, missing the frown that briefly flitted across his face. He made himself look fine quickly though, and began to finish his portrait of her in earnest.

"I'm not sure if I'll be able to see you tomorrow night," he said suddenly.

She was taken aback. "What? Why?" She didn't want to admit that she'd grown used to seeing him every night.

"Well, on my transfer here, I was given a bonus," he told her uncomfortably. "I've used it all in seeing you each night, and it's about run its course. I have a good salary, but not good enough to keep up nightly visits to you like this. Maybe every few days though."

"I'm expensive," Ezra's tone was half wry and half rather sad, and she had the thought that she was going to miss him.

He gave her an unfathomable look she was unable to look away from, and he slowly closed his sketchbook and put it and his pencil down beside him. He got up and walked towards her, and she was so surprised by his unfamiliar actions that it took her a moment to get herself thinking and moving to sit up on the chaise. By then, he'd reached and was kneeling in front of her, still gazing at her with that look. He took her face in his hands.

"Am I allowed to kiss you?" he asked, reminiscent of a similar scene sometime before.

"You're allowed to –"

"Do more. I know."

And for the first time, Kallus did do more. He kissed her with a new fervor she was sure he'd never showed before, and he'd pressed her against the chaise couch. His hands wandered, instead of keeping still, and she could feel the calluses of his fingers brushing against her exposed skin and touching her through her negligee. Then he'd moved to half sit on the chaise himself, grasping her hips and bringing her up, and then lifting her up, making her hands fly up and grasp onto his arms in surprise.

She could feel the muscles on his arms flexing, and then they were encasing her and bringing her closer. His tongue licked at her lips and then slid into her mouth before she could fully open them, eagerly engaging with her own tongue in a battle she never had a chance at winning. He left her mouth, letting her catch her breath, only for him to suckle at her neck like a man desperate for water.

She gasped and the sound only enticed him further, encouraging him to be more forward and lift a hand to one of her breasts and cup it, molding his hand to curve around it and knead it firmly. Letting out moans, Ezra shifted and managed to spread her legs and wrap them around his waist, grounding herself down onto him.

He pulled back, groaning. "D-don't –"

"Don't be so chivalrous now," she said breathlessly. "You've gone this far."

And while she knew he wouldn't go all the way, she could at least get him to do a little more. They didn't have much time together left, after all, and she was keen on making him remember her.

He stood up, clutching her to him, and bent his head and placed his hot mouth around her other breast, while his hand continued to toy with the other. As he lay her on the bed, she thought this was probably as far as he'd let himself go with her, in this situation.

Kallus moved back up and kissed her again, and she wrapped her legs tighter around him and thrust up into him. He moaned and squeezed her hips.

It was probably their most engaging night so far.

When they'd finished in exhaustion, the two of them lay on the bed side by side, clothes wrinkled and both of them panting from exertion.

"You should dump your pants into the sink…or just leave it somewhere on the floor. I could get you some pants to borrow tomorrow," she muttered, still catching her breath.

He tiredly forced his pants off of him and used it to wipe himself clean, and then dumped it somewhere to the side and hoped it landed on the floor. And then he rolled onto his side and sought her out, grabbing hold and embracing her. After kissing the top of her head, he buried his face against her neck and went to sleep. Ezra went to sleep herself, and thought it would end up another peaceful sleep for the two of them.

But sometime in the middle of the night, Kallus woke up…or was half-asleep…and had been gasping and sweating, sitting up as he grasped onto his head. He'd woken up Ezra, who'd panicked at his state and had reached for him, only for him to whirl on her. Almost desperately, he pulled her closer and was muttering incoherent things against her bosom as she held him close, understanding he'd woken from a nightmare and was having a panic attack of sorts.

Or really, not a nightmare at all, but she may have become close to a man who probably wasn't unfamiliar with night terrors and had a PTSD stamp on his forehead.

* * *

She missed Kallus for the next two nights, though Valen continued her flying lessons and managed to let her fly the TIE fighter on her own without him interfering at all on the last lesson (he made it a point to exaggeratedly sit back and relax as she took control of the yoke and flew around, though he straightened up when she started in on the stunts).

But one night, she saw him waiting for her by the door of the brothel, and she quickened her steps to meet him. He saw her approaching and gave her a small smile.

"Why aren't you inside?" she asked as soon as she was near.

"I'm not a client today," he said quietly, though he took out a familiar sketchbook. "I thought you'd like to see the finished product."

She nodded quickly, eager to see his work. When he flipped to the correct page and showed it to her, her eyes widened and she gasped. It was extremely well done and had keen details on everything. Honestly, she didn't think she looked that good in real life.

"It's beautiful," she stared at it in awe.

"It's not as the real thing," he said succinctly, taking back his sketchbook and closing it. "I…Thank you for everything. I will miss constantly seeing you at night."

She'd opened her mouth and offered, before she could even think about it. "I live in the abandoned communications tower at the outskirts of Capital City. You can come see me before I go to work here."

"I'd like that," he mumbled. He glanced at her nervously before cupping her face. "Can I…can I kiss you? Is that allowed without being a customer?"

She kissed him quickly and gave a tiny smile. "No, not really. But as long as Vizago doesn't see…"

Ezra gave him one last smile before she darted inside.

She really was giving him (and even Valen) too many allowances and letting them invade her comfort zone.

* * *

The morning was bright and early, and before she was going to go to work at the factory, she decided to mull about the market and walk around. Who knows? Maybe she'd run into Sabine again. It had been awhile since she last saw the girl.

She saw one of the merchants being harassed by two Imperial officers, causing her to scowl and walk over. She was close enough to hear the merchant resentfully talk back against the Empire, and then one of the officers about to arrest him in return. She sped up and ducked her head, aiming straight for the officer that wanted to arrest the poor merchant. Without further preamble, she bumped into him, lifting her head and feigning horror.

"I'm so sorry!" she gasped, holding a hand to her mouth. "Please forgive me! I wasn't looking where I was going at all. I was in a hurry to find a place to get some," she glanced quickly at the fruit in the basket, "jogan fruits. I need a lot, but I can see you two already have need of these. I'll have to go look elsewhere then."

She watered her eyes a bit and slightly stuck out her lower lip and trembled it.

The two officers blushed slightly.

"Ah well," the skinnier officer gestured at the other. "We're not in a big need of it. Here, you can have them, Miss."

"Really?" she asked in surprise.

"Yes!" the other officer blurted out. He cleared his throat. "Uh, yes, of course."

"We'll leave them here for you," the skinny officer said, slightly elbowing the other, who put down the basket quickly. "We've got elsewhere to be right now, but enjoy your fruit."

The two of them bowed slightly and walked away, and she waited until they were finally gone before facing the merchant.

"I didn't think that'd work," she said in amusement. She rummaged around in her backpack for her coin purse. "How much for ten of these?"

The merchant blinked, realizing what she'd done. "For you, my dear, three of them for free and 10 credits for the rest," he gave her a grateful smile. "Thank you so much."

She piled ten of them into her bag and gave him a wide grin back. "No problem. You keep up that spirit, mister. I like that spunk!" She winked at him and leaned closer, whispering conspiratorially. "Who knows? Maybe one day the Empire will be bowing down at your feet and awesome jogan fruits!"

The merchant laughed and waved goodbye as she left him in a good mood. She took one of the fruits from her backpack and started snacking on it, though she wished she had her usual flight suit on. Instead, she wore a regular shirt and dark trousers, while her flight suit was at the brothel and at Vizago's hands. She felt vulnerable without her flight suit, especially considering the gear she usually had stocked in it.

Finishing up the fruit, she climbed onto the rooftops in boredom and found herself overlooking a square area where those two officers she'd fooled were currently taking inventory of incoming shipment.

"Well damn."

She'd forgotten that that day was the day of Vizago's hired job, and the shipment he'd been looking forward to.

Suddenly, she had a strange feeling and looked over the rooftop from another angle and somehow spotted Kanan, the man Vizago had hired for this job. Just as he turned to look in her direction, she ducked in a hurry.

Honestly, if Vizago found out she was there and didn't take the opportunity to cut the job from an outside source and do it herself, he'd go on a tirade. Sighing, she opened her backpack, and carefully rummaged in there for her holographic belt that she quickly latched around her waist. She turned it on and was suddenly wearing a sleek back bodysuit and a black helmet that hid her features. The disguise may only be a hologram, but it would be enough to hide her features.

She then searched in there and found her vibrowhip, and attached it to her hip. While she preferred to have had her energy slingshot there as well, she could deal without it. And well, there was also the blaster that Vizago had recently given her…

All set, Ezra looked back over the rooftop and watched Kanan's group get to work, signaling each other before Sabine dropped an explosive into one of the speeders. The group managed to get the crates, and Ezra was on the move. At an opportune spot, once Kanan and the Lasat had cornered the most important crate (well, according to what Vizago would probably say), she jumped from the rooftop and landed on the speeder.

"What the?" Kanan blinked at her.

She gave him a silent wave and took off.

"Karabast! Who in the kriff was that, Kanan?" Zeb gaped after the mysterious person.

"I don't know," Kanan frowned. "But we have to follow him."

The two of them turned their speeders around and raced after the unknown man.

* * *

As Ezra sped away down a street, she noticed Sabine on a rooftop and ready to jump onto the crate and intercept.

"Sorry, Sabine. I have to do this," Ezra muttered to herself.

So just as Sabine leaped, Ezra sped up and the other girl missed landing on the crate by a few feet. Ezra made a sharp turn, and disappeared from sight. As she got onto a roadway and was heading out of the city, she thought she was home free until both Kanan and the one she thought she heard was called Zeb found her and was on her trail again. However, they had a tail of several Stormtroopers behind them, and now there was practically a parade behind her.

Cursing, she reached back and into a side pocket of her backpack and grabbed the modified repulsorlift she made, and attached it to the speeder she was on. It immediately boosted her speed, and she had a huge distance between herself and the others, leaving them to deal with the Stormtroopers.

Why were they continuing to follow her anyway? Their huge thing was about the food! She had Vizago's blasters, and while she would have liked to have nabbed the food and delivered it safely to the people of Tarkintown herself (making sure it actually got there), she knew she had to prioritize the blasters.

Unfortunately, she was spotted by a TIE fighter on the way to her tower, and she had to improvise. One, she didn't want anyone knowing where she lived. Two, she wasn't going to be the one stupidly leading them there in the first place. Diverting her path elsewhere, she was aware that the TIE fighter was still following and had her in its sight. Grumbling, she removed her repulsorlift and turned on the antigrav on the crate, and then replaced the repulsorlift onto the crate.

Detaching the crate from the speeder and leaping onto it, she was just in time to leave the speeder behind as it was shot and destroyed behind her. But the TIE fighter was still following, and there was only so much she could do on a crate. Balancing herself on it, she propelled herself on the crate and tried to speed away on it.

"Hey! Over here!" she looked up and saw a freighter ship hovering nearby with the ramp down and Kanan at its entrance. "Get in!"

Pursing her lips, she jumped down from the hovering crate and began to push it forward, ready to leap with it.

"Just leave it behind! You won't make it with it!" she heard him yell.

Over her dead body. If Vizago found out she'd abandoned the crate of blasters, he might actually flip on her for once.

Ignoring Kanan, she grabbed hold of the crate and prepared to leap with it. She made the giant leap and the crate landed on the ramp, while she tossed herself into a flip and landed on top of it. She slid off smoothly, and Kanan helped her push the crate in, closing the ramp after.

"Stay here," Kanan watched her warily, before addressing the other two there with them. "Sabine, Zeb, watch him."

He disappeared further into the ship, leaving Ezra awkwardly standing around with the other two. Sighing, she used the crate to lift herself up before sitting on it, and watching the other two in boredom.

"So, uh, do you  _speak_?" Zeb asked her.

She cocked her head to the side and then gave him a thumbs up.

The other two twitched and glared at her, with Zeb smacking his forehead.

"Give it up, Zeb. He's not going to talk," Sabine growled, before moving into the ship. "I've got to get on a gunner, so stay here and watch him."

Only one more to go, Ezra noted, switching to watch Zeb carefully.

The ship jolted harshly and made the two of them unbalanced for a moment, but Ezra took the opportunity handed to her. Righting herself quickly, she moved behind Zeb and knocked him out. Spotting the small shuttle docked to the ship, Ezra made quick work of moving all the crates into it, before getting inside and finding the controls. From there, she detached the shuttle ship from the main ship, and hauled out of there quickly.

* * *

Hera whistled. "He sounds impressive. I've never heard of a repulsor working like that, and that flying you're describing must've been a sight."

"I don't like where you're going with this, Hera," Kanan scowled.

"Oh come on! He sounds like one of a kind! And a  _vibrowhip_? Even if he never used it, I've never heard of a weapon like that in the first place."

"Neither have I," Kanan admitted. "I've heard of lightwhips and seen a few on Holocrons, but I've never seen or heard of a vibrowhip."

"He could be useful," Hera pointed out.

"We don't know anything about him! We don't even know what he looks like –Is that the Phantom?"

Hera's head whipped towards where Kanan was pointing and staring, whereupon her jaw dropped.

"…I don't even know if I want to be angry he stole the Phantom off my ship, or be impressed at the flying he's demonstrating right now."

Kanan shrugged lightly, unsure what in the worlds was happening. Had a stranger really just hijacked their ship?

"Kanan!" Hera snapped at him, as they got hit again. "Get to one of the gunners and help Sabine out! Get them off our tail so I can get us into hyperspace, and we'll deal with that stranger after."

Kanan muttered an affirmative and was on the move quickly. Between he and Sabine, they were able to keep the TIE fighters away, and Hera managed to get into hyperspace quickly. After a while, she got them back into Lothal's space and went to land near Tarkintown. The group gathered, and realized not only was the Phantom gone, but so was all the crates.

"Ugh! I can't believe it," Zeb threw his hands up. "We've got nothing! What are we going to do now?"

"We can track it," Hera spoke up. "He didn't disable the tracker on the Phantom, so we can find its trail and find out where he and the crates are."

"I don't know if he was being dumb not turning off the tracker, ignorant about it being there, or honestly, for some reason, not caring if he would be followed," Sabine frowned about that.

"He doesn't seem the type to not know about the tracker, so we should be careful coming after him," Kanan advised them. "Hera, you find out where he is?"

"You won't believe this, but he's actually nearby!" Hera couldn't believe it herself.

They all gave each incredulous looks, before they set off to find the Phantom. It wasn't too far off from Tarkintown, though as they checked it, there wasn't any sign of any of the crates. They reluctantly trailed into the town empty-handed, but it didn't take them long to run into the mysterious guy, who leaned carelessly against one of the open crates that the people were eagerly getting food from.

"Did he just  _do_ our job  _for_  us?" Zeb gaped.

"Looks like," Sabine was taken aback and was reevaluating this stranger.

They walked closer, at the same time as Vizago walked into view and stood next to the black-suited man.

"Vizago, what's the meaning of this? Do you know him?" Kanan confronted the crime boss with a furrow to his eyebrows.

"Yeah, I do. So? Though looks like you guys are late to the party," Vizago looked them over critically.

"If you already had one of your men on the job, you could've told us!" Hera scowled at him, stomping over.

"I didn't have anyone on it," Vizago waved dismissively. "It so happens initiative –well done initiative –was taken, on my behalf. Very well done," he turned to his man and praised him briefly. "And one of my  _men_  didn't do anything. One of my girls was the one smart enough to get the work done for me."

The Ghost crew was startled and went to look at the 'girl' in surprise, just as she tapped the belt around her waist and the area around her shimmered and the hologram disappeared, leaving behind the person's true appearance.

Bluish hair, olive skin, and an impish smile –Ezra waved her fingers at them.

"Hey there."

Started 1/20/15 – Completed 1/22/15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. Kallus and "That Scene": I've been dying to listen to Hozier's "Take Me to Church" and write a sex scene to it (actually, I was expecting to use it for my BurntledgerShipping stuff). Even though I think it's too early for these two to go all the way, I was listening to this song and it (or something like it) had to be done XD Even if are punks about lemons on the site, if I ever get to writing explicit stuff, I still have my Wattpad and Ao3 accounts for them. Also, Kallus has issues. A lot of issues.
> 
> 2\. Vibrowhip: Weapon used by Xist in the Clone Wars, and unique in its existence until Ezra came along. Dunno, I thought the energy slingshot didn't fit this version of Ezra, so I came up with something else and ran across the vibrowhip on Wookiepedia.


	5. Bed of Lies

Vizago grunted and swatted at her direction, missing as she moved away.

"Quit messing around. Make sure the idiots back in my base are working on keeping those blasters stowed away and correctly marked off."

Ezra scowled in his direction, before nodding at the group she'd stolen from and leaving. Which left the group alone with Vizago.

"Now, I'll give you money for the commission," Vizago reluctantly bit out. "But I ain't paying you for the job. Like I said, my girl finished it off for me and went ahead and sweeten it up by doing yours too."

Kanan looked in the direction of where Ezra had left. "We took on that job."

"And you weren't the ones who finished," Vizago said bluntly. "Look, Ezra's smart enough to know that I hate paying, and I prefer my gang to get things done. I offered the job because it was risky, but she was there and she knew that I'd rather get her to swipe the job and get me my stuff and save me money. She's known me long enough to know how I think."

"How long  _have_  you known her?" Hera interjected, looking neutrally back at the crime boss.

Vizago raised an eyebrow. "Curious, you lot? Is it any of your business?"

Sabine scowled and stepped forward, only for Hera to hold out a hand. The Twi'lek gave a thin smile at Vizago. Kanan let her take the lead, staying quiet, while Zeb seemed to realize that Hera was fishing for information and clamped his own mouth shut.

"Just want to know about the girl who stole off with the Phantom and the crates, and impressively dodged a whole bunch of bucketheads on her trail, along with the rest of our crew."

Vizago barked out a laugh. "She did all that, eh? Atta girl…Well, I've known her since she was a little 8 year old Loth rat living on the streets. Took her in, made her a part of my own crew, and got one of the best investments in my life in return."

He started moving in the direction of where his base was, and the others followed.

"So she works for you and the gang?" Kanan spoke up.

"Used to," Vizago grumbled. "She still works for me, but she works more now with my other girls in a 'legal' environment."

Sabine flashed back to the brothel she'd woken up in, and remembered Vizago telling her that one of 'his girls' had brought her in. And, well, she hadn't been with anyone except Ezra beforehand…

"She's the one who brought me into the brothel?" Sabine sped up slightly, to be closer to the crime boss.

He snorted. "She ran like a hellion into the place, and got you into med bay all by herself. Got her hands dirty, making sure you healed right. Must've been a right sight for her customer that night."

"Wait, you mean she works at the brothel like  _that_  –" Vizago cut Sabine off and gave her an irritated look.

"Don't be slow, Sabine. I thought you were smarter than this. Of course she works there like that –I said she's one of my girls, didn't I?"

"But she looks young," Zeb said something finally, an uncomfortable feeling settling in the pit of his stomach.

"She's 15," Vizago sighed in aggravation. "But she's the most-liked and favorite of the group. She comes expensive then."

Sabine had the urge to stomp up to him, force him to let Ezra go, and let the other girl live her own life the way she wanted.

"I don't know," Zeb surprisingly was the one who said something. "Seems like it's not right. Shouldn't she, like, choose who she wants to be with on her own, love who she wants?"

Vizago stared at him incredulously. "She's got to love nobody, got it? She don't have to, and it's bad for business anyway, especially in her line of work."

It made Sabine bristle, and she could see that Hera did too. Kanan was frustratingly blank-faced, but Zeb obviously looked like he was ready to get into a fight with Vizago.

But they'd reached Vizago's base before anything could be said or done, and they saw Ezra directing some of Vizago's men around. When she saw them, she nodded their way before returning to organizing the crates filled with blasters.

"Always could rely on that girl," Vizago muttered, before reaching into his jacket pocket and pulling out a sack. "Before I forget, here's your commission."

Kanan stepped forward to accept the credits, but Vizago held back.

"Well, I  _could_  give you these…or I could give you certain intel about the Wookies."

That made them perk up and unwillingly ready to listen to him.

"Alright, you keep the creds, but tell us the information about the Wookies," Kanan accepted the deal.

Vizago smirked and told them where they were being held, pocketing his money back safely.

"We could use her help," Kanan pointed at Ezra, and surprising his crew. Most so Hera, since she knew how reticent he had been about the other girl before, back when they had thought her a male interloper. "She's good. We could use an extra hand, especially one as feisty and well fought as her."

Vizago frowned and looked against it, but he was thinking. "I want a Wookie in exchange."

Kanan's expression darkened a bit. "No. We're not going to break them from one captivity to hand them into slavery for another."

"Che, I just want you to ask them if any of them is willing to work for me. I ain't going to force you or them. But having a Wookie on my side will be a boon. And you can have Ezra ask. She'll be professional about it. It's all business, Kanan."

Hera stepped closer to Kanan, and touched his arm. They traded looks, before Kanan gave a nod to Vizago.

"Okay, we'll work with that."

* * *

Kallus overlooked the soldiers from the terrace he stood at. After finishing his talk with Commandant Aresko, he was concluding overseeing the Stormtroopers loading up last minute equipment onto the Lawbringer, before they would all take off on the Imperial Star Destroyer.

Patterns. There had been a noticeable pattern of attacks on Lothal that had been brought to the ISB's attention, and his appointment there had been to quickly seek out the fools that dared to defy the Empire, and stop them before they could get it into their heads to organize together and become a fully-realized rebellion. Sparks that were smothered from the beginning were no threat at all.

He just needed to reach out his hand to snuff each and every one of them out.

A cold smile crossed his lips, and he knew there was no room for error and that he wouldn't create any mistakes anyway. Soon enough, he would have succeeded again.

Looking at the time, he saw that he had time himself. Even if it was too early for her to be at her night work already, perhaps she would still be at home…

Kallus turned sharply on his heel and made his way out of the building, finding himself a speeder to use so that he could see Ezra for a time before he had to leave on his mission. Once he'd secured one, he set off for the communications tower she said she lived in, which was surprisingly not hard to find. No one really bothered with it since it was broken down and abandoned, and therefore had just been left alone. No one thought it was worth the effort to fix it up and become operable again, so he could see how Ezra could live there and not be bothered.

Parking the speeder some ways away, he was caught off guard to find an Imperial pilot walking around the field, too close to where Ezra's tower was.

"You there! What are you doing here?" he barked out, startling the other.

The pilot turned quickly to face him, and he immediately recognized him as Valen Rudor, a Baron of the Imperial Navy and very well known for his impressive flying.

"Sir," the pilot stood at attention, though he looked uneasy. "Some time ago, my, uh, ship crashed around these parts. I lost something important in the crash and have been looking around to see if I could find it."

Nothing was off about the explanation, but Kallus was on edge about it. Maybe it was because Rudor was too close to where Ezra lived, and he didn't want her getting in trouble or found out. He was most probably feeling uneasy about that, hence why he was having such a hard time letting Rudor's presence go.

"It'll be hard to spot anything around with the tall wheat grass around us," Kallus spoke levelly. "Perhaps it would be best if you were to use a ship, if yours hasn't been fixed already, to fly overhead and see if you could spot whatever you're looking for from higher up."

"You're right. That would probably be much better," Rudor gave a strained smile. "I'll see about doing that soon, sir. Though, if I may ask, what are you doing around these parts?"

"Wheat," Kallus immediately said, glancing at the surrounding wheat plants around them. Rudor blinked. "I like to collect fresh wheat to make some of my own food from scratch."

"Oh…" Rudor looked like he wasn't sure how to take that. "I see. Um, good luck then, sir."

Rudor left quickly then, leaving Kallus to slowly relax, though he never fully let down his guard. But he turned his focus back to the looming tower some ways away, and began his walk there. For a moment, he wondered if this was really alright, or if he was infringing on the rare free time she had to herself.

But he hadn't really been able to see her in such a long time it seemed.

That made up his mind and he went inside, finding the elevator and riding it up to the top. He went to the doors and opened them, slipping inside quietly. Immediately, he knew she wasn't there. It was too quiet and everything was too still.

He looked around and saw how the place was decorated. It was covered with things Ezra had collected over the years, including a wall of various Stormtrooper helmets, of which he knew was illegal to have. He inwardly sighed at her habits, but he wouldn't be the one reporting it. It wasn't like she was really harming anyone anyway…

Kallus also noted the air of loneliness coating the solitary home.

Had she lived here by herself for all this time, ever since her parents had been taken? The thought put a dull ache in his chest and he knew it had been a long time since anyone or anything had drudged up any sort of emotion from him.

"What a wicked, wicked game you play with me," he murmured, trailing his gloved fingers against the walls as he walked passed.

His fingers touched upon paper, and he looked to see designs drawn of different ships, and even droids. His lips twitched minutely up, and he found a spare piece of paper.

_Ezra,_

_I'm sorry for invading your home, but I had hoped to see you before I left on an important mission. I don't know when I'll be back and when I can see you again, but please keep me in your thoughts. You are…you are always in mine._

_With all the sincerity a man like me can muster,_

_Coriolan Kallus_

He'd written his name out, though he knew it was against the ISB rules of his former division to reveal their entire identity outside of the organization. But…it would be nice to hear his name from her lips, even if just once.

Yet there was no rest for the wicked, and his world was on fire every single day. No one would save him, until she came along.

* * *

Ezra was going to take a stop at her home before she would set off with the crew of Ghost to find the Wookies. She had to grab a few extra gadgets that might come in hand, and had just reached the doors to her home, when it slid open and she was pulled inside.

Unfamiliar leanly muscled arms held her tight against a tall male, and Ezra inhaled the scent of coriander. She knew that scent…

"Well if it isn't Mister Ace Pilot. I guess you missed me, huh?" she said playfully, trying to pull back.

But he held on tight, and she began to feel uneasy.

"Hey, come on now," she said gently, firmly pushing him away and looking at Valen, who looked alarmingly morose and upset. "What's wrong, Ace –?"

"Valen," he interrupted sharply. "Call me Valen."

Ezra stared at him.

"You've never called me by name once," he frowned. "You rarely even call me anything. If you do, it's always 'Mister Ace Pilot' or my whole title and name. Otherwise, you avoid directly acknowledging me."

"Sorry, Valen," she hadn't noticed she'd done that actually. But looking back, she really hadn't acknowledged him by name once. And yet, it felt like a step closer to acknowledging that she was becoming close to him.

He reluctantly took a step back and she further went inside her home, the doors closing behind her. However, Valen still looked upset and she was going to say something about it, when he stepped forward again and took her face into his hands and kissed her firmly.

"I'm sorry," he said hoarsely. "I'm sorry if I upset you or if I'm bothering you, or if you're just plain sick of seeing me every day. Whatever it is, just tell me and I'll stop. But don't just disappear on me and make me worried and then –"

"Wait, wait! Slow down," Ezra was very confused. "What are you talking about?"

"You weren't at work this morning. I thought you were sick of seeing me there all the time or something."

Well, she hadn't expected that. She gave him a fond look.

"I can't exactly skip work just because I don't want to see someone," she pointed out, causing him to look embarrassed. "Secondly, I had business I had to take care of, which is why I couldn't come in today."

Now he really looked embarrassed. But he still looked upset, so she was worried but also confused. She still hadn't even broached the subject of the kiss he'd suddenly decided to give her earlier.

"Valen? Are you okay?"

"No, I'm not," he admitted. "I think about you all the time. I want to see you every day and never leave your side. I love the way I get to fly with you, and the way we talk because no one else talks to me or with me like that. I'm always an Imperial officer to everyone, and my colleagues hate that I'm more recognized than they are."

In a moment, everything just seemed to stop and Ezra couldn't look away, couldn't move, couldn't say anything…He leaned forward and kissed her again, and it seemed like every damn wall she'd built up was creating cracks everywhere.

Damn him and damn Kallus too.

"I saw you," he breathed against her lips, looking so stupidly lost. "In the city. You were flying away from people and you wore black, and  _for frag's sakes you stole from the Empire_."

She grew cold and stared at him with shocked, wide eyes.

"How did you…?" she couldn't even finish her sentence. She'd been disguised and no one should have been able to recognize her.

"I know your flying," Valen said stubbornly. "I recognized the way you flew that speeder. I know how you fly."

Dear galaxies, how could he recognize  _that_? It didn't seem possible.

"I won't say anything," he said suddenly, and she was further nonplussed. "I don't want to see you in trouble. Whether or not you're one of those Anti-Imperial activists, whether you steal from us, or do something incredibly idiotic that'll get you more than arrested…Don't tell me anything and I won't say anything."

He knew what she'd done and what she was probably going to do…and was going to stay silent, so long as she didn't tell him anything…

Did he really grow to care for her so much already?

Looking into his clear blue eyes, she could read them easily and so let him pull her back into his arms and embrace her.

Desire made fools out of everyone, but she suppose she was as much a fool as all of them.

* * *

Valen had left and Ezra sat on her bed in numb shock. She wasn't sure what to do from now on. Valen, just by association and willfully withholding information, was being treasonous without doing so outright. Kallus was a loyal agent on the precipice of falling and breaking, and needing her to cut her hands on his pieces.

She didn't know what she'd gotten herself into.

And to make matters further worse, her two 'amours' (as Vizago would mock her if he knew) had unexpectedly and unknowingly met, as Valen had let slip. And wheat of all things! She couldn't believe Kallus actually managed to pull off that explanation…

But now Valen was worried about Kallus skulking around her home, looking for 'wheat', and Kallus was probably more than suspicious and on guard about Valen likewise hanging about. She should've just went ahead and told them about each other, and brandish all further secrets in plain view.

Sighing to herself, she got up and began to pack what she needed, and was almost finished until she ran across a piece of paper sticking out from under one of the books laying around on her desk. From there, she grabbed and read it both in disbelief and affection, reading the words that were so elegantly scrawled onto the paper that Kallus had left behind for her to find.

Truly, she was setting out to be the bad guy in this story between those two.

What was she, after all? Imperial saboteur? Bitter rebel? Coldhearted whore?

Ezra pressed her lips together tightly and pressed the button on her belt. Her disguise quickly turned on and hid her features, masking her from the world.

They were such  _idiots_. They were Imperials, and she hated the Empire. Couldn't they see how bad she was for them? She was everything they fought against; what their jobs entailed them to enforce the law on.

Did they not understand they were doing the exact opposite? That they neglected their jobs in the face of simply being in her company?

Ezra clenched her jaw and picked up her backpack, heading out of her home. She would be late if she didn't hurry up.

"What did that song say? My love is vengeance and never free," she murmured.

Never free indeed. She had never remembered a time where she felt free.

* * *

It was rather tense once the entire group had settled into the Ghost. They were flying on autopilot for now, until they got nearer and needed Hera to pilot more attentively. But for now, they were awkwardly standing around and looking at each other quietly.

"So Ezra," Sabine decided to get the awkwardness over with. "I was wondering how you were able to heal me. I mean, it was healed just like that. I don't know any medicine that could just heal a gash like that so quickly and so completely."

Ezra hesitated, but decided it wouldn't be too bad to tell them about it. She didn't think they were an untrustworthy group at all, and they'd so far shown only a fierce loyalty and bond between them.

"I've always been able to do things like that," she shrugged. "There's this sort of energy I feel build up and I think about healing whatever it is, and it happens."

Kanan straightened up at that, which Hera noticed. She discreetly nudged him and he gave her a quick look that she understood meant she had to be patient.

"Sounds interesting," he said thoughtfully. "What about that vibrowhip at your hip? And that repulsor I saw you use before, it was very impressive and there's never been one I've seen like that."

Ezra blinked, though she was surprised by the quick change of subject, as were the others. Sabine definitely looked irritated that Kanan had changed it on her.

"Oh those? I created them myself. I made the repulsorlift by scratch and modified it to my needs, and the vibrowhip is based off the same type of weapon that Lord Xist used back in the old Clone War days. Vizago gave me the idea for it, and something about an Obi-wan…"

Hera could practically see Kanan's eyes light up and she was now super curious about what it was that was going around in his head.

"One more question if you don't mind," Kanan was practically grinning, and Hera was eager to grab hold of him and drag him off to her cockpit and interrogate him. "That crystal I saw you wear around your neck before your holobelt activated…what is it?"

Ezra's eyebrows raised. "That? I got my pick from one of Vizago's shipments a few years ago. A, uh… _friend_  told me recently that it's some crystal called velmorite."

Now Hera was definitely sure that Kanan had looked like he had hit on something great.

"Did they all just seem to be right to you? Call out even? Like that energy you got from healing felt natural and surrounding you. Or when you're around technology and some kind of mechanics, it seems to be easy for you to figure out or fix? Or maybe that crystal, of all the things you could have chosen, stood out to you for some reason?"

Now they were all staring at Kanan, though Ezra was really thrown off by all these seemingly random questions.

"How'd…how'd you know that?"

Kanan smiled solemnly. "I really think the Force is beyond strong in you, and you have great potential to become a Jedi."

That just literally stumped everyone there.

* * *

Kanan read the signs like it was written out to him on paper or an electronic pad. The way she said she healed Sabine sounded far too much like Force healing, while her innate ability to work so easily with any kind of technology or mechanics clearly classed her with the rare Force ability of mechu-deru. And that crystal…

Velmorites were more common for Jedi Sentinel lightsabers, with their more common-colored golden lightsabers as staples for their class. With Ezra's natural abilities, and her preference for stealth and being very sly and sneaky…

She was practically shaped like a raw Jedi Sentinel on the rise.

In fact, she also sort of reminded him of Bastila Shan a little. Ezra wore her hair in a style reminiscent of the famous female Jedi Sentinel, and vaguely held a similar face shape to her. Her attitude seemed close to Bastila's, from what he remembered learning in his history lessons about that era.

In any case, the Force was telling him this was the truth and all he needed to make it final was for her to open the holocron he'd given her, before Sabine had dragged her off to her room, where Ezra would be rooming as well.

"You really believe this, don't you?" he heard Hera ask him.

"Do you think I'm going crazy?" he asked her hesitantly.

Hera laughed at him. "Kanan, you seem so gung-ho about this that there's no way I can't not believe you."

He felt relieved and gave her a small grin back. "I just feel as if she's built for it, to be trained in the ways of the Force. And the Force itself is like telling me this is the right path."

"Just don't forget about Vizago," Hera reminded him gently.

Kanan scowled and nodded. "Yeah, I know. I –ugh. Thinking about him right now and learning about him and Ezra puts a bad taste in my mouth. It makes having to work with him now and if we need to in the future…"

"Seem like even dirtier work than it was before," Hera finished for him.

Kanan twitched. "Yeah. Something like that."

Hera looked at their progress and nodded to him. "We're near. We should get the others ready to go."

She focused on flying the ship, while Kanan went to go retrieve the others. After informing the girls, the two of them walked passed him, with Ezra nonchalantly tossing the unlocked holocron into his hands and continuing by. Sabine smirked at him knowingly.

He would do what he needed to do, and by Force, he would help Ezra reach what had to be her real path in life than the world of crime she was stuck in.

* * *

Ezra was going to provide backup, just in case things went wrong, and act as the group's Plan B. In the meantime, she sat in the cockpit with Hera, asking about the controls, which the Twi'lek delightedly answered her about. She also had met the group's resident astromech and was currently working on fixing Chopper up to better conditions.

"I'm sure I really like droids much better than people," Ezra declared.

Hera laughed out loud, while Chopper made a series of beeps that made Hera laugh even harder and for Ezra to grin widely.

"I like you too, buddy," Ezra patted the astromech fondly. "Any time you need help with a tune up, come to me. I got your back."

Chopper made a sort of salute with one of his arms. Suddenly, Hera saw the Imperial Star Destroyer drop out of hyperspace, and before she could do anything the Ghost and the transport they were supposed to have infiltrated were captured by the star destroyer.

"Oh no!" Hera looked on helplessly.

Ezra jumped out of her seat and quickly patted Hera's shoulder as she ran out, turning on her holographic belt. "I got this, Hera. It's what I'm here for!"

She had to be fast. She didn't have a lot of time to warn the others, and if she didn't get to them now, they were all going to be captured and turned over to the Empire's 'mercy.' Thankfully, she managed to catch up to them easily, but unhappily noted there had been no obstacles in her way. No Stormtroopers had greeted her, not even knocked out ones from when Kanan and the others should have run into on the way in.

This had been a trap, a complete setup from the beginning.

"Ezra, what are you doing here?" Kanan asked bewildered.

"It's a trap!" Ezra spat out. "We got to get out of here!"

Just in time too, as once they moved, the door exploded and was a near miss for them. They began to run from the incoming Stormtroopers that were finally making their appearance. To Ezra's horror, a glimpse back allowed her to a quick peek to see that Kallus was among their pursuers. He had the determined look to his eyes that made her flinch and pray to anyone listening that he wouldn't recognize her like Valen somehow had. She winced as two stray shots from him clipped her cheek and her side, making them burn awfully.

"Hurry it up!" Ezra told them, as she turned and stopped, grabbing her vibrowhip and smoothly lashing it out in one quick move.

It hit several Stormtroopers, knocking them back and their blasters landing on the floor. Another lash at them was directed at their heads, causing them to duck.

"Ez!" Zeb called out in a panic, and Ezra decided she'd caused enough delay and quickly ran after the others.

She caught up to them, and the artificial gravity in the ship was disabled by Sabine, forcing them to float awkwardly in the air.

"Karabast! When will this ever end?!" Zeb complained, grumbling as he tried to swim through the air and keep running away, while Kanan used the structure of the ship to pull himself forward.

Ezra hysterically giggled a little and used her whip to latch onto something ahead, pulling herself forward and grabbing onto Zeb to pull him with her. Soon enough, the gravity was back to normal in the ship and they landed on the ground painfully. From there, they got up and started to run again, and met up with Sabine on the way.

Close to the exit, Zeb stumbled in his hurry, but Ezra pushed him forward, only noting too late that the interruption had caused their pursuers to catch up and that she didn't have much time to follow after. She stopped and turned around, lashing out with her vibrowhip and intending on a quick strike that might give her some time.

Only, of all people, Kallus stepped forward and caught the whip, letting it latch around his armored arm. His eyes were blazing and he had a cold look on his face that she didn't recognize. This was the Kallus she knew existed, but had never experienced because he had never been like this with her. His lips curled up cruelly and then he yanked her forward, using her own vibrowhip against her.

She crashed into him and he held onto her tight, her back pressed against his front and his arm harshly pressed against her torso to keep her from struggling and escaping. This, too, was different to her. His hold around her had always been more intimate and gentle, rather than the painful grip on her now. There was no special treatment, no exceptions for her right now.

And yet she was still lying.

Kallus was the ISB Agent chasing them down, acting like the bad guy to everyone's story. But she was the liar and the deceiver, and she made for the real villain.

Like a mantra, she kept repeating in her head how much she hoped that he wouldn't find out it was really her under this disguise, because she wasn't looking forward to seeing the crushed and betrayed look on his face, when she had been the one to allow him to get so close and let him in too much.

"Ez!" Zeb yelled out, trying to look for a good shot. "Get out of the way!"

"Just go!" she choked out. "Go!"

And maybe Kallus needed to know who  _his_  bad guy really was.

* * *

She sat quietly in the bare cell, staring vacantly in front of her. The door suddenly opened and she barely moved her head, flinching only when she saw Kallus framing the doorway. He observed her coolly, his pretty eyes holding none of their usual warmth towards her. Such pretty, pretty eyes on someone so harsh…

In the right light, they even looked like gold. Gold sickness…Had she caught it then? Had she been greedy? Had  _she_  been the callous one?

"I am Agent Kallus of the Imperial Security Bureau," he said calmly, walking in unhurriedly.

His accented voice smoothly rolled over her like always, like all the nights she admitted enjoying just listening to him. But it was impartial now, cold even. His stony countenance matched his unsympathetic tone, and his gaze on her made her shiver and shy away.

He stepped closer until he was right in front of her, looking down on her practically in disdain.

"You are to be used as bait. The others will come back for you in time, and in the attempt, we will capture them as well," he spoke coldly.

She kept quiet. She was sure he'd recognize her voice.

Kallus frowned and reached for her face, grabbing her chin and scrutinizing her closely.

"They say they cannot remove this helmet from you," he murmured, eyes narrowed. His eyes caught the difference in where his fingers touched her, and he noted the smooth feel of skin there instead. His eyes roved from the top of her head to downwards, where he caught sight of the holographic belt.

He smiled slowly, in a triumphant way. He reached down, watching the belt, and she flinched. He pressed the button and her disguise immediately dropped.

"And so your  _illusion_  is…broken," he ended in disbelief, looking and seeing her staring back at him tiredly.

He took a step back and stared at her in denial.

Started 1/26/15 – Completed 1/27/15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. "Coriolan": is an alternate spelling for 'Coriolanus', who is a character and name of a Shakespeare play of a Roman general who eerily enough echoes Kallus in many ways, so I think the name is fitting. Oddly enough, I was just thinking of the name, and hadn't known that the story and character would be so much like Kallus…
> 
> 2\. Playlist: If any of you all wanted to go back and read this chapter with music, "Poker Face" by Pixie Lott (Lady Gage cover) was from the beginning to the end of Kanan's deal with Vizago, "Wicked Game" by Lana del Rey goes from the beginning of Kallus' part to the end of Valen's, "Behind Blue Eyes" by Light (The Who cover; Limp Bizkit version) from after Valen left/Ezra's recollection to (skipping the Ghost crew parts) Ezra fighting on the ship and engaging Kallus and being captured, and lastly "Love is a Battlefield" by Raining Jane (Pat Benatar cover) at the Kallus/Ezra end scene.
> 
> 3\. Sentinel!Ezra: I really think canon!Ezra should have been alluded as Sentinel material. He had all the traits –the 'pick the lock' type, more prone to be subtle of the work, sneaks around, etc. Classic Sentinel values. But then they gave him a kyber crystal and a blue colored lightsaber, and he's clearly Guardian typed. (sigh) I wish they'd make a Sentinel type a main character of some type of media, aside from Bastila Shan from the Old Republic…
> 
> 4\. Valen and Kallus have pretty eyes. Just, dammit, they do. Especially Kallus –why? It really does get golden at some parts. Damn you, animators! He's a freaking bad guy! Why would you give him such pretty eyes and awesome voice?! David Oyelowo is such a great voice actor and has a perfect, smooth, and sexy British voice. And Kallus is gifted with it. And yet he's a bad guy. And unfortunately too few scenes. He needs more so I can ogle at his magnificence more often.


	6. Put Your Armor On

It was almost scary how his face quickly blanked off and his eyes remained dark and unreadable. Only his irregular breathing showed how disturbed he was by the sight of her there in his cell.

"What are you doing here, Ezra?" he asked suddenly, voice like lead.

She breathed harshly, feeling the effects of the short fight, especially the burns on her cheek and side. She couldn't help moving a hand slightly, and covering her side.

"I asked what are you doing here?!" he yelled, taking a step towards her.

She looked at him sorrowfully. "I'm sorry, Kallus."

"I don't want to hear you're sorry!" he hissed at her, and she could visibly see him trembling. "I don't want apologies! It's too late for them! Tell me why you're  _here_!"

She closed her eyes and leaned back, resting her head back against the metal wall. This was such a disaster…

He strode the rest of the way to her, and slammed his hands on either side of her, against the wall.

"Open your eyes and look at me," he ordered harshly.

She reluctantly did so and winced at the distressed look on his face.

"Please tell me you're not a part of this, Ezra," and when his voice took on a layer of desperation and even practically begged her, she knew that someone like Kallus had to have a make or break moment.

A man like him didn't become close or attached to anyone so easily or so quickly. He had let her in and made himself, uncharacteristically, vulnerable in a way that no one else was allowed or even capable of seeing him as.

"I want my freedom," she said bitterly, looking up at him with baleful eyes. "I want my freedom and will do what I need to in order to take it from those who keep me chained."

Then she steadfastly looked away from him, not wanting to see his face at that moment and keep seeing the pain etched on there. In a moment, after standing still and just staring at her, he turned and left without another word.

Ezra blinked back tears and continued to lean back on the wall, wondering if it would be a good idea to start healing herself and reveal what Kanan had told her was called Force healing to the people here.

* * *

He glared at his desk. Her backpack, having grabbed it on his way out, was sitting on the ground next to him, but he had no urge to rummage through it and find if there was anything he could use against the rebels.

Right now, all he wanted was to punch a hole through his desk.

The last thing he had expected going into this mission and coming up against those rebels, was to find Ezra running around with them. It was the  _last_  thing he'd expected. Even with all the shady things he knew were involved in her life, he just hadn't expected to go and confront this group, and know that Ezra was with them.

And for what? Freedom? What in the galaxy did she mean by that?

" _I want my freedom and will do what I need to in order to take it from those who keep me chained."_

Was he one of the ones who'd chained her? Was her life so bad that she would go to these lengths to scramble for any freedom she could grab for herself?

He took a gulp of his drink and sat back in his chair, mind all over the place.

"If there were angels…" he murmured.

He could think she was one.  _Had_  thought she was one…

Kallus stood and threw his drink against a wall, letting the glass shatter into tiny pieces.

He felt like he was that glass and he'd been shattered into pieces.

* * *

"There's no way Vizago was involved with the setup," Hera scowled. "Ezra's probably his best agent and he wouldn't do anything to endanger her. We're a source of income for him too."

Zeb growled, though he continued to scowl at the ground, disappointed that he hadn't been able to do anything to get Ezra back safely with them.

"We can't leave her with them," Kanan said. "Besides that it's the right thing to do and she's our hired help, Vizago would be furious. And along with that fury, he'd spread it out to others that we're not good on our word or reliable, and we won't find work with him or anyone else for that matter."

"Then it's settled. Let's go after her!" Sabine was more than eager to head back for the friend she'd quickly made out of Ezra, and it hadn't settled right leaving her behind like they did.

"Alright then, let's start making a plan and getting her out of there quickly," Hera started grinning, feeling optimistic about this.

Zeb cheered up a little. "Yeah! Let's do this and make sure she's back here!"

Kanan stayed quiet as the others began to eagerly plan. There was something…odd in the Force. It felt sad somehow and he had a feeling it had something to do with Ezra. That was worrying and he hoped that nothing bad was happening to her, because she'd been caught and left behind with those Imperials.

He hoped nothing irreversible had happened.

* * *

Ezra had just lulled herself into a light sleep, when the doors opening had her wake up and look at the entrance warily. To her surprise, Kallus stood there and was watching her quietly. He walked towards her slowly and stopped right in front of her, making her have to tilt her head back and look up at him. However, he knelt down and soon enough, he was at eye level with her.

She was further shocked when he reached out and gently touched the burn on her cheek. His fingers quickly retreated, and he turned and grabbed something in a pouch he'd brought with him. He quickly set up an odd contraption and then reached for her shoulder, pressing it to her shoulder and injecting her with something.

"So you won't get an infection," he said neutrally, before reaching into the pouch and grabbing a canister.

He took off a glove and scooped a bit of the cream inside, and began to apply it to her cheek and then her side. Ezra wasn't sure how to take Kallus' actions, having convinced herself that he hated her and would do everything he could to bring her down.

Kallus finished quickly, before he stood and stared down at her. She tiredly watched him, but then tensed as he leaned down. However, his hands –one gloved and the other bare, emanating warmth from his skin and burning into her –held her face.

He squeezed her face, but it wasn't threateningly.

"Don't let me catch you again," he murmured.

He dropped her bag, which she hadn't even noticed had been missing, and left her behind again.

Ezra felt the urge to cry again, but didn't want to disrespect the actions he so carefully bestowed upon her.

Seeing the door still open, she grabbed her bag and cautiously went to it, peering out. Seeing no Stormtroopers and finding the corridor empty, she left her cell and went to find a way out. Seeing a vent, she was quick to head to it and unscrew it from the wall, shimmying into it after. From there, she found her way into a room full of Stormtrooper helmets and other equipment, and she dropped into it, deciding to swipe a helmet for her collection. It was all she could take after everything.

Putting it on her head and turning it on, she began to hear snippets of conversation. Her heart throbbed at hearing Kallus' voice, but she noted the information about the Wookies she hadn't expected to overhear. Knowing she had to get out of there, she went back into the ventilation shaft and began to crawl through it until, to her surprise, she heard familiar voices. Dropping down again, she narrowly missed a punch from Zeb.

"Really?" she grumbled, reactivating the holobelt in the meantime and grabbing the blaster she still had in her backpack, while reattaching her vibrowhip to her hip.

"Sorry, sorry!" he held up his hands. "You're wearing one of them stupid buckets! How was I supposed to know it was you?"

"Great to see you back," Sabine cut in with a grin, rolling her eyes.

Ezra gave a halfhearted salute, wanting to just get out of there. Blaster sounds echoed and they had to avoid being fired at, while Kallus and a group of Stormtroopers rounded the corner. The group and Ezra began to run, while she threw the helmet she'd wanted to keep at them. She flinched as Kallus knocked it aside and continued to gain ground. Luckily enough, the Ghost was already ready to go and they were quick to head into it, while shooting back at the others.

She stubbornly refused to aim for Kallus though, even when he was probably the best shot of them. But he wasn't shooting at her either.

"Come on, Ez, we gotta get in," Zeb urgently pulled at her shoulder.

Reluctantly, she relented and slowly made her way in. She locked eyes with Kallus though, and she grimaced behind her disguise.

"I'm not bulletproof!" she yelled at him, knowing that her disguise probably hid whatever emotion she wanted to convey to him.

He finally aimed towards her, face like stone. However, she could see him falter.

"But I won't fall, so shoot me down," she blurted out painfully.

If he could hate her, pursue her in some other way…then maybe she hadn't broken him and changed him too much from the man he was supposed to be.

Kallus' grip on his blaster tightened and he re-aimed and shot in her direction, only for Zeb to jerk her back and into the ship, the ramp closing behind them.

"What was all that about?" Zeb growled at her, but Ezra just stared morosely at the closed ramp.

Suddenly, she heard an explosion and her eyes widened, and she ran to where she could peer out and see what happened out there. She saw the gaping hole in the Star Destroyer, and everything was being sucked into space. Her heart leaped into her throat as she saw Kallus being pulled in that direction, and then barely holding onto something.

"No!" she screamed, plastering herself against the window.

She only began to breathe again as she saw the shields come on and he dragged himself back onto his ship.

"Ezra?" she saw Sabine and the concerned look on her face.

She also realized that there were tears streaming down her face, and she hurriedly wiped them away. Sabine came over and gently grabbed her, leading her back to the others.

"Er, not to be the lost one in the group, but what's going on?" Zeb questioned.

"Sorry, I'm a bit lost too," Sabine added in.

Hera and Kanan stayed quiet, though they also looked at her in question. Ezra looked at them and then stared off to the side regretfully.

"The man in front is –was –one of my clients," she murmured.

The others became a bit awkward at that, so they stayed quiet. Ezra turned to them with teary eyes and a bittersweet smile.

"I don't really get attached to people at my job and I'm not supposed to anyway," she told them solemnly. "But I got really attached to him."

She hadn't meant to, but she did. And it was clawing at her, the fact she knew that he was in pain because of her.

"I didn't want to hurt him like this," she wiped her eyes as she kept quietly crying.

"No one wants to hurt the ones they care about," Hera stepped forward and took Ezra's hands. She reached up and wiped Ezra's tears herself. "But sometimes it happens and we just have to do our best to make it up to them. Even if they are Imperial scum."

Ezra gave a cheery chuckle.

"No offense, but it's kind of hard to picture that guy in a brothel," Zeb scratched his head. "He seems like the strict, no nonsense type of guy."

Ezra fully laughed then. "You actually got that right. More or less, he wanted to draw me. He was really just there for my company…"

"A total and utter jerk then," Sabine declared. She turned a wry grin on Ezra. "Just not to you, I guess."

"No, you're right," Ezra smiled helplessly. "I knew what he was like, but he was always his best around me. Even in a  _cell_ , for galaxies' sake…" Ezra sighed, and looked to her side.

A heavy hand landed on her shoulder and she looked to see Kanan smiling gently at her.

"There are always going to be that 'one' that brings out the best in a person. You're his."

But after everything though, she wondered if she still was.

* * *

They landed on Kessel's Spice Mines after firing at some Stormtroopers, where they were quick to find the Wookies. The group split and Ezra managed to sneak up to where the Wookies had taken cover, calming them when they saw her and began to get aggressive. Once she'd set them free, she led them to the others, while the Wookies helped to defeat their captors at the same time.

However, three TIE fighters appeared and Ezra was thankful that Valen didn't miraculously appear. That was all she needed –another man looking at her in betrayal.

While the Ghost led the TIE fighters away, Kallus and a group of Stormtroopers appeared and began firing at them. They and the Wookies had to retreat and fight back behind some crates.

"Ugh, that's some boyfriend you have!" Zeb fired rapidly. "Stubborn Tooka!"

Ezra mumbled under her breath, before saying sarcastically, "I haven't domesticated him yet."

"Get on that then, and get him a collar while you're at it!"

"Cut it out, you two!" Sabine said, frowning at being cornered. "Kanan, what do we do?"

"We're going to do a 22 pickup," Kanan said determinedly. "I'll buy us time."

"What? What does he mean?" Ezra began to panic. "Let me in on the secret, guys!"

Kanan gave her an apologetic wince. "Er, that's kind of the thing…Everyone's going to know the secret."

It clicked in Ezra's mind and she gave him a warning look. "Oh, no, no. You are  _not_  going to reveal you're a –!"

But Kanan leaped over the crates then, and she face palmed. Of course he would ignore her. Of course he thought this ridiculous move was a great idea.

The sound of blaster fire quieting, and then the soft hum of Kanan's lightsaber was what was heard next. Peeking over her spot, she could see Kallus barely revealing how taken aback he was by the revelation, and it amused her in a sad way, how even in real surprise, Kallus was still pretty much in control of himself and how very smooth he was with his actions.

"Aim all your fire at…at the Jedi," Kallus ordered, just a minute falter to his voice.

Ezra drew her eyes away, only to see the littlest Wookie of the group running from a Stormtrooper. She quickly followed after, intent on saving the Wookie and bringing him back with the others. Some ways away, on a walkway, she managed to catch up to the Wookie child and the Stormtrooper.

"Hey!" she yelled out.

The Stormtrooper instinctively turned and she lashed out with her vibrowhip, hitting him directly in the chest and the force of the blow knocking him over the railway. Moving to the Wookie, she helped take the bindings off of his wrists.

"So here you are."

She whirled around and stared wide-eyed at Kallus, who was aiming at her with his blaster.

"So here I am," she spread her arms out. "What are you going to do to me?"

She hadn't meant to say it like that, in the same way she said similar words to him in her room. But there they were, and that was how it came out.

Kallus glared hard at her, not budging from his spot or changing his stance. But then he dropped his arms and the blaster to the floor, and his glare became tired and sullen as he directed it to the ground.

She turned to the Wookie child and gestured for him to stay put, before she turned back to Kallus and hesitantly walked over to him. Taking his hands, she looked down at them as he lifted his head up and looked at her.

"Do I chain you down too?" he murmured.

Blinking, Ezra looked up and caught his gaze, her cobalt eyes meeting his bronze ones. One side of her lips quirked up grimly.

"You were one of my first keys," Ezra leaned up and kissed his lips.

The sound of the Ghost's engines was near and she pulled away from him, heading back to the Wookie and taking his hand to head to the ship, where she could see the ramp was down and Kanan was waiting quietly for her. She helped the Wookie child up, and then began to pull herself onto the ramp.

"Can I still see you sometimes?" Kallus spoke up somberly, voice breaking a little.

She turned slightly and saw him looking so lost, something she hadn't expected him to ever look like.

"Anytime," she smiled sadly at him.

She then fully pulled herself onto the ramp, and Kanan helped her stand up.

"Don't let me catch you," he said again, and she understood that even if he had to, he didn't want to.

So he didn't want her to force him to.

The ramp closed behind her, and she slumped to the floor, slipping from Kanan's grasp and wishing she could do more to make Kallus feel better about this situation.

* * *

Lothal can be rather pretty as the sun set. The red and orange light painted the land around her tower, and reflected off the gold wheat, making them have a soft glow about them.

"You okay?" Kanan came up behind her.

"I don't know. I suppose it depends on your definition of 'okay,'" Ezra shrugged, continuing to lean on her railway and watch the wind softly blowing through the wheat field.

"He's not ready to give you up," Kanan stood beside her, looking over the field as well. "You could see it on his face. He wasn't ready to let you go."

"But he was still hurt and I broke him even more than he already is," Ezra said softly.

"So pick up his pieces and don't leave. Imperial or not, I guess even they have hearts too," he mused thoughtfully.

Kanan ruffled her hair and gave her an encouraging smile. "Sometimes it's hard to face the mistakes we've made…but then again, he's not really a mistake, is he?" He tossed her his lightsaber. "Training starts tomorrow morning, 6 early!" he yelled as he walked away from her

"Who said I agreed to learn to be a Jedi?" she hollered back at him.

"I did!" he laughed heartily, and she just shook her head.

After a while of being alone, watching as the sun slowly went down and day became night, Ezra slipped into her home and got ready for bed. Who knows if Vizago was expecting her to come to him to report, and damn it all if he wanted her to work too…She was simply done with it all right then. She didn't care and she just wanted to be left alone.

However, as soon as she laid on her bed and her head hit the pillow, an onslaught of tears escaped her and she wasn't nearly as okay as she thought she was or had tried to be.

This was why she didn't get attached to people. This was why she kept to herself and let life go on by and let nothing and no one matter. Life was horrible. All she wanted was to be free, even if she knew she never could be. Whether it was free from Vizago, from the Empire, from the past…

Freedom was never caught, and now she'd made someone as miserable as she was.

There was a firm knock on her door, and she wasn't sure if she wanted to yell at them to go away or to come in because even though she hated attachments, she hated being lonely more. The answer was made for her as the doors opened and Valen walked in. At her crying figure, he panicked and rushed to her side.

"What on –Ezra, what's wrong?" he asked quickly, sitting on his haunches next to her bed.

He combed his fingers through her hair to try to soothe her, doing his best to calm her down. She grabbed his hand and turned her face into it, crying into his palm.

She was a horrible, horrible person.

"I'm horrible," she said aloud.

"No, you're not," he replied quietly.

"Yes, I am," her voice was muffled against his skin.

"No, you're  _not_ ," he reiterated firmly, and pulled her up as he stood and sat on the bed next to her, pulling him to her after. "You are most certainly not. Meeting you was the best thing that's ever happened in my life. And I almost ruined it by being a total bastard when we met."

Even though it was supposed to make her feel better, she just cried even more and felt worse. What would happen further along the line, when Valen would have to keep coming after her? He couldn't keep quiet forever, and she wouldn't _have_  to say anything.

It would be another man she ruined.

But she didn't pull away or say anything against him pulling her onto his lap and holding her tightly, letting her cry into his neck and grab the front of his shirt with her balled up fists.

* * *

Kallus swished his drink around, staring at the wall of his office in the Imperial Headquarters. Even though they'd failed to catch the rebels and stop them from taking the Wookies, he couldn't bring himself to care.

Ezra was one of them after all, and he couldn't find it in himself to catch her and make her face the law.

He mused on the little bits he'd seen, and idly wondered if she was Force-sensitive herself. He'd seen so much evidence in the ways she moved, the instinctive risks she took and paid off, and in the way she carried herself.

When he contacted the Inquisitor and told him about the Jedi…he left out Ezra. He said nothing of a second Force user, or mentioned anything of a girl who might have the potential to use the Force. He knew if he did, they would take her away and he would never see her again. And though he hadn't really thought about those who could use the Force before and had been taken away, he knew he didn't know what personally happened to them. And as he thought about Ezra, he had a feeling (as he thought on it now) that nothing good came of it.

If there was anything he wouldn't do for his job, it was that he would never hurt her.

Running a hand down his face, he stared at his phone before he reached over and grabbed it, contacting someone he thought he would never care to.

"Cikatro Vizago?" he murmured into the phone. "I have something I'd like to talk to you about."

If it was freedom she wanted, then he would do what he could to help her get it.

Started 2/6/15 – Completed 2/6/15


	7. Chained to Your Side

Kallus knew that Vizago had no clue as to why they were meeting, by the subtle expression hidden on the Devaronian's face. However, he maintained his poker face and didn't allow Vizago any insight as to what he wanted.

"Agent Kallus, this is a surprise. I hadn't expected you to call me out of the blue," Vizago greeted him in a friendly manner, even as he scrutinized Kallus closely.

"You're a businessman, I'm sure you'd want to get straight to business," Kallus said instead.

Vizago's friendly grin turned sharkish the next moment. "Very well, let's get down to business then. May I ask what it is you wanted to meet with me for?"

Kallus observed him for a moment, before he spoke. "How much are you willing to accept from me, for you to part with Ezra for?"

Vizago looked momentarily startled, before he recovered and showed no telling expression on his face.

"Nothing," he surprisingly declared. "That girl earns more than most of my other girls combined, and is one of the best workers I have on my payroll. With how much she earns by the day and the invaluable work she provides, I wouldn't give her up for anything. No amount of money you offer will ever measure up, when she can earn whatever it is just as quickly."

That hadn't gone the way Kallus had hoped for. He had expected a high number, but an absolute refusal…

"Then what would you part with her for?" he pushed, taking a guess that something other than money might persuade him otherwise.

At that Vizago paused and gave him another scrutinizing look.

"Well…I suppose there are things that could change my mind," Vizago hmmed thoughtfully. Kallus tensed, waiting for whatever outrageous demands the other might make. "You see, Agent Kallus, I know you're a very important man in the world. A few telltale slips about certain shipments every now and then…"

Kallus frowned, but stayed quiet, feeling as if Vizago wasn't done. And indeed he wasn't.

"Ezra's still my worker. I'll let go for her job at the brothel, but she's got to have some other job to make up for it, as well as whatever side jobs I continue to make her do for whatever other business I have in mind and need her help on."

"I need an Imperial Aide," Kallus answered firmly. "She can work for me."

Vizago nearly raised his eyebrows. "I'm fine with that, and she'll probably prefer it over the brothel, but she's got legit work over at one of those factories in the morning. You're going to have to talk to her about whether or not she'll quit that."

Kallus hadn't known about her morning job over at one of the Sienar Fleet Systems factory, and had been caught off guard that she'd worked at one at all. Besides that, didn't they not hire female workers?

"Like I said, you're an important man," Vizago said slyly. "…How about some…information every now and then? How'd you feel being a contact?"

At that, Kallus stiffened up and glared at the criminal boss, who only looked slightly uneasy.

"The question is," Vizago started out slowly, determined to continue. "Are you willing to do criminal things for a criminal like Ezra?"

That struck a chord within Kallus, and for once, he wasn't certain what to do. He knew, before her, he would have immediately said no to such a thing. But it was about Ezra, and he knew then that she'd become his one weakness in life.

Vizago nonchalantly cracked his neck and then knuckles. "Hey, it's not like I'm asking you to fight against your people and the Empire, eh? Just a little slip of tongue about some useful information. You can tell it to Ezra if it makes you more comfortable."

Knowing a decision had to be made, Kallus looked at Vizago neutrally.

"Fine. I agree to your terms."

* * *

Valen wasn't sure what time it was. All he knew was that he was on Ezra's bed, in Ezra's home, and was holding Ezra herself in his arms. In fact, she was comfortably snug against his side and laying her head on his chest, fast asleep.

It wasn't something he thought would happen, at least not for a long time, if ever. She didn't seem like she had been too interested in him that way, always pulling away at the last moment whenever  _something_  might've happened. He was certainly interested in her, though he admitted that while he'd known he'd liked her and her attitude from the beginning (despite his own attitude back at her during their first meeting), he hadn't immediately thought that he'd  _like_  her or be so attracted to her the way he knew he was now.

As the days passed from their first meeting, it became clearer to him that he enjoyed her company and he liked being around her. That he was, in truth, liking her.

But then he saw her, in that black suit, flying away in a high speed chase from a group of Stormtroopers and two unknowns, and with an Empire crate she obviously stole. And then he realized he didn't just like Ezra Bridger, techno-mecha genius, but Ezra Bridger, Empire insurgent.

And right now, holding onto her, he knew that he was about to cross lines that he'd never even contemplated before, and shouldn't now. Valen was loyal to his Empire. Ezra made him want to not be loyal.

Lightly caressing her forehead with his fingers, he moved her over and slipped away from her, getting off of the bed. Kissing the top of her head, he shook her shoulder slightly.

"Ezra, it's probably morning now. You've got work soon, I think, and I've got to finalize my TIE fighter's transfer from the main factory."

She sighed a little, but reluctantly began to wake up. Her cobalt eyes blearily opened and she yawned slightly.

"Will you stop by the factory?" she asked curiously, getting up from the bed as well, and starting to grab her stuff so she could get ready for the morning.

"I'll try to," Valen shrugged. "But they have me doing a class for beginner flyers this afternoon, so I'll have to do checks beforehand so some idiot doesn't end up messing around with the controls."

"Mmkay," she said, still sleepy. "Good luck with that. I'm sure there's still going to be that 'one person.'"

Valen groaned. "Don't remind me."

Chuckling slightly, she came over and gave him a loose hug, catching him off guard. It pleased him immensely though, and he was quick to hug her back, but much more tightly.

"Can I kiss you?" he breathed against her head.

"You didn't ask before," she pointed out.

"I was  _slightly_  panicking and upset then," he said wryly. "I'm in a better state of mind now, to realize I probably shouldn't have just kissed you out of nowhere. Twice, at that."

She moved her head back and looked into his eyes, the shades of blue of their eyes clashing. She closed her eyes in invitation, and Valen leaned down to kiss her. Her lips felt soft and he could smell vervain as he inhaled her scent.

She was the one who pushed him back first, one of her slender hands touching his chest and gently pushing him away. She gave him a small smile.

"You'll be late."

"I'd rather be late," he mumbled, but gave her a helpless quirk of his lips.

"Later," she said, and though he didn't know what she meant exactly, a flow of excitement rushed through him.

"Later," he agreed, and leaned over and kissed her forehead.

And then he was leaving for real, going to the tower's exit, and opening it. The door opened and a strange man stood on the other side, hand raised as if to knock. They blinked at each other.

"Hi, friend of Ezra's?" the other asked friendly enough, if uncertain.

Valen coughed and awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah…friend. Um, I'm in a rush. It was nice meeting you."

He all but fled, his footsteps quick as he went to the elevator entrance and nearly throwing himself into the elevator.

* * *

She saw Kanan coming into her home as soon as she stepped out of her room.

"Was that Baron Rudor?" Kanan asked in confusion, pointing out the doors with his thumb.

She shrugged. "Yeah, that was him."

He stopped short before shaking his head. "I don't know anyone else that gets Imperials attached to them."

"Me either," she muttered. She turned to him. "It's more or less a recent development, and I don't know how to handle Valen's situation either. Kallus is just one huge mess, and Valen's a ticking bomb waiting to happen, I'm betting."

"You think he'd rat you out?" Kanan asked uneasily.

"Not if I don't say anything to him and promise to keep him out of it," Ezra remembered that talk, still feeling out of sorts about it.

He stared at her. "He knows what you do?"

"He recognized my  _flying_ , of all things," Ezra said in exasperation. "How is that possible?"

Kanan looked incredulous. "I don't know either. Hera's a good pilot, but I don't think she'd be able to do that. That's…obsessive."

"What are you doing here anyway?" Ezra tossed him back his lightsaber.

He smirked at her. "I told you, Jedi training bright and early."

Ezra gave him an exasperated look. "Fine. But if it's 6 now then, I'll have to get to work around 7."

"Work?" he asked hesitantly.

She scrunched up her nose. "Not at the brothel. I only work there nights. In the mornings, Vizago got me an in at one of the Sienar Fleet factories, so I usually work there as a mechanic mostly."

Kanan shook his head, but didn't question it. It sounded pretty shady for some reason though, and it was probably because Vizago's fingerprints was all over that situation.

"I'm not quite qualified, but I'll take you on as a Padawan," he said determinedly. "If you'll let me be your Master."

Ezra could see how important this was to him, and wondered if it had to do with the lack of Jedi in the worlds these days. He also probably had been around the time they were still around, and even during the entire elimination of them. It must've been hard on him…

"Of course," she agreed steadily. "I guess I'm learning the ways of the Force, dear 'Master,'" she playfully teased.

He grinned widely. "So I'm not too sure how to start, but I think having a good grip on meditation would be good. That way that could lead to the Jedi stance disciplines I could teach you next, which will prepare you to learn the lightsaber combat forms. I figure you're an active person, and in order to help you reach out and open yourself to the Force, this way through semi-combat would help better than if we attempted to just have you rely and use the Force through trial and error."

To be honest, he hadn't really known how he would start to teach her. It bothered him all night, until he actually calmed himself and tried to think about it closely. His first idea of just throwing things at her, while she was blindfolded or had her eyes closed, and her attempting to take out those things had seemed like a good method to him at the time, until he realized that she hadn't really learned or truly known how to use the Force actively, much less reach out to it and know what it was or what it felt like. So he thought he needed to find a way to "stretch that muscle", and get her used to it before he tried making her use the Force and dive head first into active Force training.

To be even more honest, he'd thought his first idea was still good for that, until Hera hit him upside the head and told him flat out that he couldn't expect Ezra to just "use" the Force to hit and block things, if she'd never "used" the Force on her own (consciously) before. So he'd gone back to square one, and then thought of how much of a good fighter Ezra already was, and that maybe the route dealing with combat would help them to get her more used to using the Force actively on her own.

Ezra, on the other hand, was becoming rather eager to start her training now.

"Alright, let's start that meditation," she inwardly pouted. "The sooner we get that part over, the more interesting stuff comes up, eh?"

Kanan snorted. "Yeah, yeah. More interesting stuff. Let's get settled on your floor, and hurry up. We do only have an hour after all."

Really, Ezra wanted to skip work again now.

Although, after the meditation training had come and gone, she had to rethink that thought. She'd already missed at least two mornings of work, and she knew that –with her circumstances –that wasn't really a good idea. Was she fired? She'd been a no-show for so long, and she hadn't even told her work anything. And she was still there as an illegal worker, so her status had always been shaky at best…

She headed into the factory with thoughts running wild in her head, and she nervously headed to her locker. It still seemed to be hers, so she took that as a good sign. Taking her mechanic suit, she switched into it and then headed into the main factory. She was wavering between reporting to Solarlast or going straight to her workstation, when the decision was taken out of her hands and Solarlast found her and headed her way.

"Bridger, there you are."

She winced and turned to him, even more hesitant than before.

"Sir," she said quietly. "I apologize for my absence. It was inexcusable."

He frowned. "Follow me. We'll talk in my office."

Oh, that didn't sound good at all.

Reluctantly trailing after him, once they were in his office, he took a seat behind his desk and she stood awkwardly in front of it.

"Your…employer informed me about your circumstances," Solarlast said tersely. "Regrettably that's kept you away from work, but you had business to do, I understand."

Well she didn't, although she didn't really know the exact negotiations between this factory and Vizago anyway. And at least Vizago had done her a favor and called in for her, instead of leaving her hanging.

"Your absence has been noted and let go," Solarlast informed her. "Vizago did call to inform me you were otherwise preoccupied, so I will not hold your absence against you."

Ezra couldn't help but visibly relax. To be honest, even if this place was an Imperial factory and the work done there was for the Empire…she liked her job. She liked working on the ships and her workspace, and even her colleagues.

"Thank you, sir. May I be dismissed?"

"You are dismissed," he confirmed, and she turned to leave, until he called out for her again. "Bridger."

Surprised, she turned back to him again. "Yes, sir?"

Solarlast had pulled a stack of papers towards him and had begun to thumb through it, so she'd thought he'd mistakenly called for her until he started talking again.

"You do excellent work," he praised simply, still looking down at his papers. "Even if Vizago were to rescind his…offer to the factory and no longer even pay us for your services…you may retain your job under continued secrecy if you wish. You've become most invaluable to this factory."

Ezra blinked, not expecting that at all. "Thank you, sir."

To be told she'd become invaluable, that her work was that praiseworthy, that she didn't even need Vizago anymore to keep working there…

She was feeling really appreciated and in awe at the way things were going for her on the "business" side of things, even if the personal side of her life was sorely lacking.

* * *

Kallus remembered Ezra was supposed to be working at a factory in the morning, so his travel to the main factory had been for a reason. Although he wasn't sure what he would say to her, if he came face to face with her there.

As he reached the main factory and told the supervisors on the floor that he would be taking a tour around, he had begun to already look and search around for her familiar face. Unfortunately, the ground floor where the ships were being fixed showed no sign of her, and he was thinking he'd have to move on to the other areas of the factory. That is, until he caught sight of a familiar pilot.

He wasn't too surprised to see Baron Valen Rudor in that factory, considering his huge status and reputation of being a renowned pilot. Of course they would put him and his ship as a high priority and set him up at the main factory. However, it looked like he was currently upset and frustrated, as he was discussing something with one of the supervisors on the floor. Heading over and thinking he could dissolved whatever problem it was, he stopped short when he was closer and could hear what the pilot seemed to be complaining about.

"Look, I'd filed this ages ago. I didn't make a mistake and I do want my ship's maintenance handled by Factory 113," Rudor said firmly.

"But sir, is there any particular reason why that factory? It's so far away from the main part of Capital City. It's on the outskirts, and is one of the factories that aren't too maintained in quality. This is the main factory and holds the highest quality service."

Rudor sighed in aggravation. "Yeah, okay, look. I got a mechanic there that does the best job ever on my TIE. My ship's never flown any better, then after work by them."

The supervisor frowned. "A specific mechanic then? What is his name? Perhaps we can have him transferred here, if that's the case."

Rudor seemed hesitant for some reason, Kallus noted. "I don't think that's possible or workable for…him."

"His name at least," the supervisor insisted.

Rudor frowned then. "Ezra Bridger. Sh –" Kallus froze, while Rudor cleared his throat loudly. "His name is Ezra Bridger, and he works at that factory in the mornings. I prefer to have my TIE fighter worked on by him."

The supervisor nodded in resignation. "Very well. Even if we can't transfer him for some reason, I'll file the paperwork necessary to have him as your official mechanic."

Rudor relaxed slightly, but Kallus couldn't help glaring daggers at the pilot's head. So it wasn't coincidence that Rudor had been hanging around Ezra's tower at that time. He knew her, and apparently also that she was illegally working at a factory and posing as a male to do so.

How long have they known each other? And what was their relationship? Was Ezra just the man's mechanic?

Rudor was a clear loyalist and wouldn't be an insurgent, so he didn't think they were together like that. But still, how close were they? Apparently close enough that Rudor would know where she lived, and who knows how long he'd known that or had been visiting her. Did he know about her place before Kallus? Been there before him?

He felt aggravated and –admittedly –jealous of the other.

And the worse part was that Rudor didn't have to chase after Ezra in the same way Kallus had to. Yes, Rudor was with the Empire like him, but he didn't have the same job that forced him to hunt down the likes of Ezra 'til kingdom come.

Kallus was more than aggravated. He was furious that the other had the kind of freedom he had, to secretly rendezvous with Ezra however and whenever he wanted.

It wasn't fair.

* * *

"I would say long time no see, Kanan, but I don't think it's been long enough," Vizago grumbled, not looking as Kanan and Hera entered his abode.

The two exchanged looks, though Vizago was keen on just focusing on counting the credits on his desk.

"We wanted to talk to you about Ezra," Kanan started off, making Vizago pause.

"What about her?" the crime boss said gruffly. "She did your job good and I got me a Wookie…and a half," he said, starting to sound slightly smug as he mentioned the great steal he got through Ezra convincing the Wookie father to work for him and who had brought along his kid.

Kanan refrained from sighing and rolling his eyes, but it was a very hard thing with Vizago.

"Look, she's good at what she does," Kanan said. "We'd like to make her a more permanent part of our group."

Vizago started laughing all of a sudden, making them startle and wonder what was going on.

"Get in line!" he said confusingly, looking at them in amusement. At their looks, he elaborated while still chuckling. "You two aren't the first to want Ezra and to get her to work outside of me. Agent Kallus seemed to be under the assumption that he could just buy her from me."

Now that caught them extremely off guard, especially when considering the fact of what had just happened between him and Ezra not too long ago.

"I'm proud of my girl though," Vizago continued nonchalantly. "Got that man hooked, like I wanted. Although, I didn't expect it to be this fast or for him to be this obsessive. Man's possessed almost. And you won't believe the things I got out of him, in the deal we made!"

Now that got Hera and Kanan to perk up and their curiosity uncontrolled.

"What did you ask of him?" Hera asked at the same time as Kanan asked, "What deal?"

Vizago grinned viciously. "He met with me all of a sudden. Called me sometime last night, early morning –said he wanted to meet. He goes straight into it, asking how much would I accept from him to 'part with Ezra for', and I said it was a no go. That girl's my 'golden goose', if you know what I mean. There's no way I'd part with her for any amount of money…but he seemed to get that I'd change my mind for something else. You know what I got out of that Imperial sleemo? I got that man to agree to tell me info about incoming shipments!

"Of course Ezra isn't working at the brothel anymore," Vizago frowned, but the other two felt relieved at that and inwardly a little grateful to the ISB Agent. "I still wanted her to get a job to make up for the loss, but Agent Kallus said he'd take her on as his Imperial Aide, so the loss isn't too bad."

Vizago suddenly looked triumphant and more than a little smug. "And you know what's the  _best_  part?" he asked them, looking all too satisfied with himself. "I got that loyal prick to agree to be some kind of informant, slip up a few telltales on the Empire every now and then."

Now that shocked Hera and Kanan out of their minds.

"You mean he…" Hera started breathlessly.

Vizago leaned back in his chair, still looking pretty pleased. "Ezra did a damn good job with this one."

Kanan shook his head, finding it hard to believe, even with what he'd witnessed so far. "Are you sure he meant that? He could be luring you in."

Vizago laughed. "Kanan, Kanan. You just had to look at his face. Fools do foolish things for love, you know? And that man? Man's in so deep, he's drowning."

In the end, they left there with Ezra as part of their crew and a little bit farther away from Vizago's grasp, and them also feeling just the slightest bit sorry but thankful for a certain ISB Agent.

* * *

Ezra didn't get to see Valen that day, which she was a little disappointed about. After her screw up with Kallus, she really wanted to just…bask? To just…she didn't know. Feel comfort, she guessed, in Valen's arms.

She missed Kallus already; she didn't want to start missing Valen too.

She took a quick shower and got dressed in something to sleep in, only for her to lie down in her bed and feel the cold and loneliness sneak in.

"I'm sorry," she closed her eyes, murmuring to the empty room as she tried to bury herself into her bed.

"I thought I said I didn't want a sorry."

Ezra shot up in her bed and looked around the not-so-empty room, shocked to find Kallus sitting on a chair in the corner of her room, watching her slowly recover from shock.

"Coriolan," she whispered, eyes wide. And too late, she realized she'd used his first name.

Kallus flinched, but otherwise remained composed as he watched her.

"I had a lot of things I wanted to talk to you about," he confessed. "But to be honest, I don't really want to say anything right now."

Was she crying? She was. Ezra could feel the tears slipping out of her eyes, and there was nothing she could do to stop them or prevent Kallus from seeing them.

"Then what do you want to do to me?" she asked, and damn it all, why was it those kinds of words she always ended up saying to him? And well, it doubled in asking him if he was going to take her in, arrest her, and just be done with her…

He stood up and she watched him warily. In quick strides, Kallus reached her and grasped her arms, nearly pulling her up completely from her bed. His lips descended onto hers and she reached up to entangle her hands in his light brown hair, treasuring the soft feel of the strands. Kallus was more aggressive and slightly rougher with her than he usually was, but he never went to the point of hurting her.

She could feel him grasping onto her tightly, pulling her taunt against his front. His hands moved from her arms to her hips, jerking them closer against his. He pulled away, panting as he lay his forehead against hers.

"What do I want to do to you?" he said, voice rough. "I want to ravish you. I want to make you sigh and moan. I want to hear you say my name breathlessly while I make love to you."

Ezra couldn't help shivering, and wanted to reach out and pull him back into another passionate embrace. So tentatively, she tightened her grip on his hair and kissed his lips lightly.

"Every time we're with each other, we're going to remind each other what we really are, aren't we?" Kallus asked resignedly. She looked away, not wanting to admit that was probably true. "I'm sorry," he uncharacteristically said.

She slumped back onto her bed, away from him and staring blankly at the ground.

"Don't be," she murmured. "We were just waiting on a different story."

He tiredly sat down next to her, gazing at the ground as well.

"You shouldn't have handed a heart worth breaking like yours to me," she said bitterly.

"I didn't know I still had a heart," he turned to her and pulled her into his arms, and she was close to breaking down again, like she had in Valen's arms.

So she did.

Started 2/12/15 – Completed 2/15/15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter theme: "How You Remind Me" by Avril Lavigne (Nickelback cover)
> 
> 1\. Kallus: Dudes, I'm super anxious for this guy. With the way things have been going on in the show, I'm like extremely panicked about his fate. I don't care if he's a bad guy –I don't want him to die! (starts bawling loudly).
> 
> 2\. Imperial Aide: So a huge change from the show, but it'll be interesting, right? Plus, you know, it'll help show the other side of the equation more –that of the Imperials and what's goes on with them. So this, along with some gang stuff, with fill in the chapters in between from the first episode of the show to the next one.
> 
> 3\. Kanan and Jedi training: The show pretty much hints at Kanan not being sure of what to do with training, so that'll be showcased a lot more in here. But there will also be that with help, he'll think of ways to actually really train Ezra, opposite from the show (so you'll see some Jedi training that I'll bring up as it goes). Ezra pretty much seems to be leaning in leaps in the show, minus some trouble with the blocking blaster fire, so with actual training here, I might make Ezra more of a prodigy.


	8. Slightly Broken Is What I Need

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: There is a graphic oral scene coming up in the beginning, so if you want to skip over it, it starts straight after the first separation line to the next.

Her body was soft and warm against his. Now that she'd stopped crying, he was all too focused and aware of the fact, as well as the ample curves that brushed against him with every breath she took against him. The hand that he rubbed in comfort on her back, curved and began to drag slowly and he felt more of her toned muscles.

"Do you want me to call you Coriolan or keep calling you Kallus?" she asked suddenly.

Hearing his own name come through her lips made him shiver.

"Coriolan is fine," he murmured.

She pulled back and shifted away, staring up at him with cobalt eyes that glistened with leftover tears. She shouldn't look so pretty when she was so upset…

Kallus couldn't help getting comfortable, lying on the bed with his head on her lap. One of her hands calmly brushed through his hair, while he reciprocated and watched as he lightly brushed his fingers back and forth on her exposed thigh.

"I know about Valen Rudor," Kallus abruptly revealed, though he kept his eyes on his fingers.

"You…"

He interrupted her. "He was at the main factory today. I overheard him talking about you as his mechanic over at Factory 113. I put things together. Are you…more to him?"

Ezra sighed. "Yes and no. I guess I'm with him. He kisses me and cares for me a lot. I care for him too…I just…I don't want to. I don't like getting attached and I'm not supposed to with anyone, especially with my job in the brothel. Attachments aren't good, not just because I work at a brothel, but because I hate getting attached in general. People leave all the time. It's how people are. And after working for so long in the brothel, it's the same sentiment –everyone just wants a night to forget and a warm body to help them to."

Kallus hated that she'd become so cynical and wished hardship hadn't shaped her this way.

"But you care for him regardless," Kallus said firmly. "But…it's the same for me too, right? Even if you don't want to feel this way…"

By her silence, he knew he was right, though he'd wanted her to acknowledge it straight out.

But as he said before, he knew she cared for Rudor in the same way. And if he thought about it, Rudor was steps ahead of him in terms of emotional intimacy. What Kallus had, was being further ahead in physical intimacy, and at the least knew he'd kissed (and even touched) Ezra before Rudor had even taken a step to touch her in any polite manner.

And he could keep ahead of that at least, knowing that Rudor would probably have a strong foothold and keep advancing emotionally with her, given the man's position versus Kallus' own.

He watched his fingers on Ezra's thigh, and then his light caress turned into heavy petting as he lay his palm fully on her. At one point, he'd begun to push the edge of her nightshift up, and he'd glanced up at her at that moment. She was looking down at him with watchful eyes, and he tested his limits, slipping his fingers under her nightshift and sliding further up on her thigh.

"You never wear your armor around me," she said quietly, her hand touching onto his torso.

"I don't," he reaffirmed.

"You should," she sounded cautioning.

"You've made me into a masochist," he lightly accused her. "I'd let you hurt me if I can see you."

"Are you sure you're fine enduring everything?" she gave a weak smile.

Kallus pushed himself up, sitting up and facing her with calm eyes. He startled her when he smirked right then.

"My pain tolerance is pretty high."

And he leaned forward and kissed her, stealing her breath. He moved his mouth hurriedly against hers, wanting her to feel just what he felt for her. And it wasn't long until he felt his blood rushing through his veins, the need to make her want him back, and the feel of her vulnerable underneath him ruled his thoughts. He swept his tongue into her mouth, pushing aggressively against hers, and battling with her for dominance.

Pushing her down onto the bed, he continued to assault her mouth heavily, kissing her even as they both began to lose their breaths. When the need to breathe finally overcame him, he only moved from her lips to breathe in and then attack her neck fervently.

"Cor," she breathed out.

He grinned against her skin, sliding his hot mouth down and then moving to place open-mouthed kisses against her collar bone and then head down the valley of her breasts on top of her nightshift. His mouth traveled down her belly, before he let up and moved between her legs, pushing them open. He looked at her, to see her watching him hesitantly.

If she was okay with this, then he was damn well not going to lose the lead he had on Rudor in the physical intimacy department.

She nodded and he pushed the nightshift up and over her hips, and Ezra felt exposed with just her underwear in Kallus' way.

* * *

Ezra wasn’t sure, despite her various invitations before, that she was actually ready to be so intimate with Kallus, who seemed to have been taken over with some kind of fever. But then he was bending over, shifting to be on his forearms as he crawled closer, and she could feel his breath against her cunt. Her own breath caught in her throat, already feeling anticipation build up in her. She could feel how soft his sideburns were as he nuzzled her knee, and she hadn’t expected that.

Further, Kallus moved upwards, continuing to place soft kisses against her skin, his muttonchops tickling her inner thighs. Nearer to the apex between her legs, his lips finally touched up against her pussy and she felt his tongue slither between his lips and gently touch against her, moistening her panty.

She whimpered, and felt embarrassed at her reactions. She’d been in similar situations before –she was a professional. She’d never been excited with her clients, and got off through the physical pleasure alone. But this was different. Kallus wanted to do this for her, not for the sake of the act and wanting to get her off as part of the carnal deed. But simply because he wanted her honestly and sincerely wanted to bring her pleasure, of which she had never experienced with any of her clients.

Kallus moved back slightly, removing her underwear and leaving her bare to him. She could see his eyes darkening, and the bronze irises tinged to a more copper color.

“I want you,” he muttered. “Tell me I can have you.”

And she bit her lip shyly, spreading her legs in invitation and looking up at him headily. Unrestrained now, he ducked his head back against her vagina, and she could feel him sucking greedily against its moist lips, forcing more of her juices to leak from her entrance.

“Ngh! K-Kallus!” she cried out, and she forgot she was allowed to use his name now, slipping back to the name she was used to calling him with.

He pressed closer to her, smothering himself against her pussy and pushing his tongue into her. Ezra could feel his muttonchops brushing against her sensitive skin with every push of his mouth against her slit. His tongue vigorously fucked the hell out of her cunt, making her walls clench around his tongue tightly.

“Does it feel good, Ezra?” Kallus licked at her slit slowly. “Do you want to come?”

“Y-yes! Please!” she wanted to reach down and grasp his head, push it harder against her.

He responded to her pleas by placing a soft kiss against the juncture between her thigh and groin, and then lathering his tongue onto her clit, with one of his fingers wiggling into her. He began to work his finger in and out of her cunt, while furiously flicking his tongue against her clit, taking it into his mouth and suckling it.

She gave a tiny shriek as her body arched upwards. His gloveless hands gripped her hips and pulled her firmer against his mouth as he switched to sucking her pussy feverishly. At the rising tension in her body, Kallus felt her cunt quiver and he thrust his tongue into her, pressing against her spot that made her practically black out for a moment, as she came into his mouth, her juices spilling into his mouth as she rode out her orgasm.

Breathing heavily, she moved her head slightly to watch Kallus, who had begun to move away and sit up. She felt her face flush as she saw the evidence of her orgasm all over his jaw, her juices sticking to his muttonchops obviously.

She felt further embarrassed as he wiped it off of himself and licked his fingers clean, watching her with dark eyes that showed he was nowhere near sated.

“Ezra,” he murmured.

Taking control of herself, she crawled towards him and took one of his hands, kissing his wrist while looking up at him. Seeing him watching her in awe, she gave him a small smile and reached for his pants, tugging at the hem and pulling it down enough to release his already hard cock from its confines.

Is this love? Is it with Valen? Maybe someday. For now, with the lights off and the starlight from above lighting down on them, she was content with intimacy.

She gripped the base of his cock and lowered her mouth onto it, letting his well-endowed manhood pass through her lips. Hearing him suck in a breath harshly, she continued until her lips touched her hand at his base, to which she let go and then moved her mouth further onto him until she’d taken him all. With practiced ease, she began deep throating him until she’d built up a good rhythm and he was involuntarily rocking his hips slightly.

“E-Ezra!” she heard him panting above her.

She wrapped her tongue around his cock and slid her mouth up and down it, before removing her mouth off of him and taking the head of his dick and teasing the slit with the tip of her tongue. Hearing him curse under his breath, she grinned and then plunged her mouth down on him again, stopping when she felt her lips touch his balls. She hummed a little, letting the vibrations of her throat encase his penis, until she had him moaning repeatedly.

Ezra gripped his hips and continued to move her head, sucking a little at certain times.

“I’m going to come soon,” he groaned, warning her.

She simply sped up, and when he came, his cum shot into her mouth and she swallowed it down. Releasing his cock from her mouth, she sat up in time for him to lean forward and grab her head, kissing her firmly. And then he was laying his forehead against hers.

“Can I stay here awhile with you?”

* * *

Ezra was very aware and a little uneasy with the fact that she and Kallus had just performed oral sex on each other, and that –having just realized this –Valen could pop up at any moment at her tower. It was a miracle the two hadn't run into each other here yet, but she wouldn't bet on that lasting forever.

But she also couldn't deny Kallus' request to stay with her a bit, and let him bring her closer and hold her in a firm embrace. Then, wanting to get comfortable, he lay down and brought her with him, cushioning her head on his chest.

"You don't have to go back to the brothel," he said suddenly, surprising her.

"What? What do you mean?" she started to sit up, but he just gently pulled her back down.

"I talked to Vizago," Kallus revealed, surprising her even more. "He said you'd have to find work to compensate for not working at the brothel anymore, and I told him I needed an Imperial Aide. You'd still have to work the odd job here and there for him, but aside from working as my Imperial Aide and your morning job at the factory, you don't have to work at the brothel and not really have too much to do with him anymore."

Ezra hadn't realized he would go that far for her. Inside, she felt a mix of emotions, all battling with each other to be at the forefront. But in the end, she decided that if he could do all this, then (even if she wasn't in love), he was most definitely in love with her. A man like him didn't end up edging into forsaking years of dedication and a cause and Empire he fully believed in, for anything. The question was how far would he go for her because of it.

It made her unnerved and even a little sad at the fact that she was probably twisting this man up inside, and causing probably an enormous burden and conflict in him.

"Even if I don't work at a brothel anymore, I used to sell love to men all the time," she looked up at him, speaking quite seriously. "How do you know I'm not selling it to you?"

Kallus brushed her hair away from her face. "I think it's too late for me to care or even ask that anymore."

And looking into his eyes, she could see that he'd already willingly stepped over and crossed lines that were bound to get him in trouble, and it had been for her sake.

The least she could do was let herself be in love and stop putting up her walls all the time.

* * *

As Valen walked closer to the tower, he could see a figure casually leaning against it. When he got nearer, he felt himself scowl and inwardly worry. If Agent Kallus was there, had he discovered Ezra?

"Baron Rudor," the man greeted him with no emotion to his voice.

"Agent Kallus," Valen greeted back, trying to sound normal.

When Kallus glanced up to the top of the tower, Valen felt himself grow cold and his worry upped.

"At the times I have to make her cry, I fully expect you to make her happy."

Wait, what?

And then Kallus was looking at him and Valen knew that the other man knew,  _had known_ , Ezra already, and that he'd implied he'd cared for her a lot. And his mind was quick to pick up the pieces and put it all together, and understood quickly where Kallus was coming from.

Glaring a bit, Valen nodded sharply. "I will," he said firmly. "And I'll make sure I won't have to make her cry at all."

When Kallus looked at him next, though he had no expression, his eyes said it all. He resented Valen and it bothered him to have to reach out and ask this of the pilot.

But they both knew that Valen was less likely to make things painful for her, so this shared existence with each other for Ezra's sake was the best compromise they would have to put up with.

Without another word, Kallus left him behind and Valen slowly trekked to the elevator and traveled the rest of the way to Ezra's home in silence. Inside, he sought out the bedroom's door and knocked before entering. He found her removing her bed sheets, looking over to him as she stopped in the middle of what she was doing. She had a guilty look on her face, so he gave her a small smile.

"Where do you keep your clean sheets? I'll grab them for you."

He really didn't want to think about what she and Kallus had done on that bed.

After grabbing her clean sheets from a small closet outside her room, he helped her put them on before he sank down on her bed and reached out with both hands to her. She grabbed them hesitantly and he tugged at her, gently pulling her down onto him.

"Do you love him?" he asked quietly.

"I don't love anyone," she answered honestly.

He nodded thoughtfully. "Yet," he said after a moment.

She didn't deny that, so he smiled a little. Sometime in the future, all of her walls would crumble because of him and Kallus, and they'd get her to love them yet. And, grudgingly, he'd felt a little grateful to that jerk of an agent for whatever he did, because Ezra's guard didn't seem to be up so much right then.

She sighed. "I guess getting hooked on the two of you is better than being addicted on Class A drugs."

Valen laughed lightly. "I don't think it's normal to feel happy that apparently I'm one of your two favorite 'drug of choice.'"

"Dunno," she buried her face against his shoulder. "I can't seem to stay away."

For his part, Valen took that as a good thing.

"I'm going to crash here for the night."

"Not even going to ask, you smug jerk?"

"Maybe next time. I'm too tired."

And if he felt her smile against his shoulder, then all was good with him.

* * *

The morning dawned earlier than he would have liked, but it was probably more to do with how he didn't want to wake up and leave Ezra's side. But then he heard odd noises outside the room, and he tensed up. Moving away from Ezra, and accidentally waking her up in the process, he grabbed the blaster he'd put aside the night before and gripped it tightly.

"What are you –"

"Shh," he murmured. "I think there's someone out there."

"Wait, Valen!" but he'd already opened the door and rushed out, holding the blaster up and ready to shoot.

The man he'd met the other day, alongside a female Twi'lek, stood there, in the middle of dumping food onto the table.

"Breakfast is ready?" the man shrugged, grinning.

The Twi'lek elbowed the man's side. "I didn't know we had guests.  _Imperial_  guests."

Valen's stomach dropped and he realized that these two were probably Ezra's friends on the "rebel" side of life. He glanced at Ezra, who was hovering by her door hesitantly. Giving her a smile, he decided he could suck it up.

"I'm starving," he said abruptly, zeroing in on the food. "I'm up for anything right now."

If he had to break the ice with her rebel friends, fine. He could filter anything they said that he shouldn't know. And when he felt Ezra reach his side and her hand slip into his, he felt like he'd made the right choice.

Sitting at the small table, the Twi'lek woman sat in front of him, her green eyes narrowed at him. Frowning, he was about to demand what her problem was, when she went first.

"How do you do a triple barrel-roll without losing altitude?"

Wondering how she could pick out one of his favorite moves, suddenly it somehow clicked for him and he realized this woman was the pilot of the freighter ship that gunned him down the morning of the day he'd met Ezra.

Smirking smugly, he lifted his nose up in the air haughtily. "Trade secrets. Well, not really Empire trade secrets, but they're  _my_  trade secrets."

Huffing in irritation, she asked another question and he found himself drawn into a discussion about flight.

More to the side, Kanan and Ezra idly watched the two, while grabbing some food to eat.

"Hera's jealous and irritated with the guy, but respects his flying skills," Kanan informed her in amusement. "Won't admit this to anyone, but I caught her cursing up a storm in Ryl that morning when we shot him down. She was both cursing out his flying ability and admiring them, and admitted that if she didn't have to only focus on flying while the rest of us were on the gunners, he might've been able to outmaneuver us. Lucky for us though, he had to split his attention between shooting and flying, so we got off rather well that day."

Ezra grinned slightly. "He has an ego the size of a planet when it comes to flying, so don't tell any of that to him. He'll become more arrogant about it than he already is."

"Noted," Kanan said dryly. He then turned to her seriously. "So, did you hear about the deal Kallus made with Vizago?"

She shifted on her feet. "Sort of. Kallus came here last night. He told me I didn't have to work at the brothel, but Vizago wanted some kind of job for me in compensation for the loss, so I'm going to work as Kallus' Imperial Aide, starting next week. When I asked later what he'd have to do, in order for Vizago to agree to any of that, he wouldn't tell me."

Kanan frowned. "The Imperial Aide substitution for the job helped, but Vizago told us he'd gotten Kallus to agree to some unbelievable stuff. Supposedly, and this is amazing on its own, but any info about incoming shipments, and he'd let slip about it every now and then."

Ezra stiffened up and looked at him in disbelief. That didn't sound like Kallus at all. He was loyal to the Empire and he hated law-breaking, and had told her many a times that the lawlessness of the Outer Rims repulsed him. Why would he –

"He also agreed to be an informant of sorts," Kanan said quietly. "It sounds like he wouldn't sell out the Empire or change his alliances or anything…but he did agree to slipping up on certain information on the odd occasion."

Ezra almost let her mug drop from her hands, but Kanan caught it and handed it back to her. They glanced at the two still talking, and relaxed when they saw Ezra's lapse had gone unnoticed.

"They both really care about you," Kanan observed, sounding nonchalant. "Kallus is stepping over boundaries that he'd long set for himself for years. And Rudor, on the off hand, is giving knowledgeable flying advice to Hera, and improving her skill set –therefore helping her to be a better pilot and one that's against the Empire."

"Kallus knows he's on a tightrope," Ezra murmured. "Doesn't seem willing to step off of it. As for Valen…I don't think he's really thinking that he's giving advice to a rebel pilot; more or less, they're in a pilot discussion and his head is in pilot mode right now," she smiled slightly at that.

"The man seems to love flying, that's for sure," Kanan agreed. "Done eating? Let's meditate, before I start showing you and teaching you the basic stances and then the kata for the lightsaber combat forms. I think you'll get those quickly enough, so tomorrow morning, we'll start in on Form I: Shii-Cho, and work on that for the rest of the week. All Jedi, from when they start as Younglings, learn Shii-Cho first. It's not my preferred Form, but it's the basic form that all Jedi usually get a handle on, and use at least as a tutorial."

That got Ezra's attention, and she perked up and listened to him explain about Shii-Cho while they went to a clear space on the floor to meditate.

* * *

It was to her consternation that Vizago called on her a little after she'd been left alone by the others. While she was glad to be slowly freed of him and his influence, she was reliant on the man still. The other gangs weren't going to be idle, and she was still, for the most part, alone and on her own.

So since she was still stuck doing odd jobs for the man and being on his payroll, especially as a member of his gang, this mandatory meeting she had to go to meant she had no choice but to be there.

In Tarkintown and approaching Vizago's headquarters, a tall man with closely shaved hair that was bleached blond joined her.

"Rex," she greeted quietly, and his brown eyes gave her a hard stare, with the tan skin on his forehead wrinkling in thought.

"Ezra," his baritone voice rasped out.

She gave him a side-glance, but kept quiet. She'd always had this feeling that he was one of the old clones back from the old days of the Republic and the Clone Wars. Ezra had never said anything about it to him though, even with the hand-to-hand training and blaster shooting lessons Rex had given her through the years. He gave her sporadic lessons on other things too, but she still wouldn't say anything about his past. She was still intensely curious about why, if he was one of the old clones, was he there and doing things like working around in Vizago's gang.

Further up, at the headquarters' entrance, another familiar face greeted her. A clean shaven head and glaring blue-gray eyes, the tall pale woman cut an intimidating figure. Asajj, as Ezra knew her, was a very demanding task master (and person overall), as she found out during her blade lessons with the woman.

Asajj and Rex threw heated glares at each other, before ignoring each other's existence. Though Asajj made no greeting to Ezra, the woman took up position on Ezra's other side.

Once inside of the mass meeting location, the three of them kept to the back of the amassed group, where the stage was set up in the front. A few moments later, and Vizago was on the stage.

"I know everyone's wondering why we're here. Well, we've been having trouble," Vizago looked irritated. "Scairt and Maw's groups are starting to get frisky with our territories. I'm done with this 'treaty' kriff –all of us are going to be taking them out, even if it has to be one by one. When we're done, our gang will be the only one left!"

While the crowd jeered and yelled, Ezra winced. She didn't want to be a part of this, though by the glance Vizago sent her from the front, she was going to be involved whether she liked it or not.

"How's your Jar'kai?" Asajj asked with a dangerous purr to her voice.

"Not bad," Ezra gave her a bland look. "But practicing with no one doesn't mean it'll be great."

Asajj sneered. "Practice resumes in the early morning."

Ezra inwardly sighed. "I have practice of a different sort around 6."

"Then we start at 5."

Sometimes, Ezra hated her life.

"We'll be alternating," Rex cut in, glancing indifferently at Asajj. "We'll be resuming your hand-to-hand as well. I'm sure your blaster shooting is fine, but I don't see you having much opportunity to throw around some people."

Did Ezra mentioned she also thought these two probably knew each other back in the Clone Wars days? And that they probably really, really didn't like each other since then?

"Ezra! Asajj and Rex! You three over here," Vizago called out to them, and they walked passed the mass that was gathering around tables and picking up their weapons that they were going to choose to use during the upcoming gang war.

"Cikatro," Ezra acknowledged. "What is it?"

"I need the three of you to do something specific," Vizago turned to them with an air of agitation. "Tomorrow morning, I have a specific mission for you three to carry out."

Well, this was already shaping up to be not good for Ezra already, she could tell.

Started 2/20/15 – Completed 2/23/15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Timeline: I should have stated this in an A/n sooner, but because Ezra's two years older, instead of the series taking place in 4 BBY, this fic will be taking place in 2 BBY. The events and people covered in EU and canon may not always mesh well, but I'm going to do my best not to mess it up too much.


	9. Guns A'Blazing

Ezra groaned, head hitting the ground with a thud as she lay on her back.

"Up again," Rex droned, peering down at her.

"You have 10 minutes," Asajj hissed at him from her perch on a crate to the side.

Rex glared at her, but her disdainful look said that it didn't bother her at all.

"Her swordsmanship has suffered more than her hand-to-hand," Asajj sneered. "She's had plenty of opportunities to throw around some  _bucketheads_ ," she smirked at the man, who glowered back at her.

Ezra glanced at them and thought that last pass seemed like an in-joke that she probably wouldn't get.

"Up," Rex ordered again, and Ezra reluctantly obeyed.

And then it was another round of beat-Ezra-to-the-ground, before her time was handed off to Asajj, who smiled viciously. What was worse than training with Rex was training with Asajj in dual blade combat, or as the woman liked to drill into her head –the art of Jar'kai.

They didn't even use energy swords, trading those for old-fashioned metal swords. As far as Asajj was concerned, she enjoyed cutting Ezra up and letting her bleed over the place.

"What are you so grumpy about?" she'd snipe. "You can heal yourself anyway."

Ezra would wish on those days that she hadn't been such a stubborn, anger-filled kid, but truthfully she never regretted any of the lessons, no matter how cut up or beaten she got.

A swipe came too close to cutting her head off, so Ezra sighed and paid closer attention to the woman facing off against her. Concentrate. She had to concentrate.

She engaged in a deadly blade fight with Asajj, time making it easier for her to remember the movements and become more and more fluid and confident in wielding the two blades together. Once both of her teachers called time, Ezra finally allowed herself to relax. But not too much. These two were known to launch surprise attacks on her when she least expected it.

"Still reminds me of that idiot brat you once were, demanding we teach you so you could 'beat up the Empire,'" Asajj snorted, looking down at her partly mocking but mostly in amusement. "You haven't changed that much."

Ezra grumbled, but shrugged. Maybe, maybe not. She wasn't sleeping with Imperials back then, was she? Although that change might not count…

"Ready for this morning?" Rex asked, already fitting on armor onto himself.

Ezra eyed it, knowing it looked too familiar to those of the bucketheads running about the streets of Lothal, and further adding to her theory that Rex was an old clone trooper.

"Yeah, I'm good. Though I'm missing out on practice with…a friend," she wasn't sure she should tell these two that she knew a Jedi now, and that apparently she'd become his Padawan and that she could use the Force too.

"A job is a job," Rex commented blithely. "You have to put the mission first."

Of course she did.

"You better get ready too," Asajj tossed Ezra her own equipment. "We set out after we're done."

* * *

Alton Kastle stared at his superior. He could feel sweat start to bead at his forehead and behind his neck, and he wanted to anxiously twist his hands around something. Preferably a handkerchief.

"You…you can't be serious, sir," he gulped. "If there is truth to these rumors of Lothal's gangs gearing up to fight each other, you can't possibly send me out there."

"Of course I can," his boss said dismissively. "We may report for the Empire and spread its word, but we're still a news station and report anything major. This is especially a good angle –'Lothal gangs threaten the safety of law abiding citizens; why the Empire's might is a must to combat against the lawlessness!'"

Easy for him to say. He wasn't the one going out there, in the midst of this rumored battle, and risking his life.

That's why, impeccably dressed as he was (and always was), he didn't relish the thought of walking around the streets of Lothal, which were strangely quiet and unnaturally still. His cameraman was just as jumpy, and the two of them didn't feel safe being out there alone, and without even a single guard.

"This is ridiculous. Why do  _I_ have to be here?" Alton groused. "I broadcast. I sit behind a desk and report as an anchorman. I don't go out onto the field."

Well, that was the last word he got in before an explosion rocketed from the side and he and his cameraman was thrown away. Scrambling up rather painfully, he looked around in a panic for his cameraman.

"Larek? Larek!" he almost gave up when he spotted the man a few lengths from him. When he crawled over, doing his best at ignoring the blaster shots around him, he went over and checked Larek and saw that the cameraman was unconscious.

Gripping the man's arms, he attempted to drag him away and find a place to hide. It was hard, especially since he had no upper body strength. There was a reason he hadn't gone into the Stormtrooper program; he just hadn't managed to cut the training. It had been too physical and exhaustive.

"What are you doing here?" he heard someone ask him irritably, voice sounding strangely distorted.

He looked up and saw someone wearing a black full-body suit, including a helmet that covered their entire head and masking their face. He guessed that whoever they were was using some kind of voice decoder.

"Reporting," he squeaked out, terrified.

The slim man, he was guessing it was a man, yanked him away from his cameraman, and hefted Larek up far more easily than Alton could have. And then he was taking Alton and Larek away from the scene, dragging them away hurriedly.

He could feel his breathing quickening and he cursed inwardly at the fact he was having an attack in the middle of being in danger. Fumbling into his pocket, he hastily pulled out his inhaler and shook it, but couldn't get the cover off.

All of a sudden, he was thrown to the floor alongside the still knocked out Larek, before his inhaler was taken from him.

"H-hey, I need that!" he said indignantly.

It was shoved back at him, cover finally off.

"There, use your damn inhaler already. I got to go," the man said, still irritably sounding, before he left Alton in the little niche that was far away enough from the battle.

Alton quickly put the inhaler to his mouth and pressed down, inhaling and holding his breath, before finally exhaling. He did that two more times, before covering it and shoving it back into his pocket. When he looked back up, he gaped at the man that had saved him and his partner single-handedly beat down the mass of men that was charging at him from all sides. It was chaotic and there weren't any blasters shooting anymore, instead just fists and feet flying everywhere.

But the black-suited man was easily fighting back, and even winning.

"He's like a superhero," Alton mumbled, watching in awe and remembering his old comics.

Blinking, he shook himself out of his daze and reached for the camera, clumsily turning it on and fixing it to be shooting live. He carefully angled it towards himself and began reporting, aware that he wasn't looking as impeccable as he was known to be.

"This is Alton Kastle, and I'm reporting live on the streets of Capital City…"

* * *

"Blaster, datapad, sabersword," Rex announced.

Ezra wrinkled her nose. "Do we have to?"

"It wouldn't be fair," Asajj said in boredom. "We have to play to see who gets the most fun part of the job."

So Vizago had given them a more specific task than the others. Everyone would find the scattered groups of either gang and take care of those goons, while she, Rex, and Asajj went straight for the headquarters and got the other crime bosses. One of the bases was bigger and would require two of them, while the other got to have one base all to themselves.

It was no surprise that Rex and Asajj wanted the base that they didn't have to share with anyone.

"Okay, fine, let's play," Ezra conceded in exasperation. "Even if I would be fine if either of you two had that job, instead of me."

The three of them stood in a circle and then formed fists that they lightly hit against their other individual palms'.

"Blaster, datapad, sabersword, go!" they all said.

Rex formed a blaster with his thumb up and his pointer finger out, Asajj the sabersword with two of her fingers straight out and the rest crossed, and Ezra with a 'datapad' by laying her hand out straight like she would be holding a datapad.

"Datapad wins," Rex and Asajj said together, glaring at her.

"What? How is that?" Ezra stared at them incredulously. "How does a datapad beat anything anyway?! It would never beat a blaster or sabersword!"

"Give me a blaster or a sabersword over paperwork any day," Rex declared.

"Who wants to deal with endless information on a datapad, or multiple datapads?" Asajj sneered. "It's such a hassle."

"The Datapad is the bane of all," Rex firmly decided. "You win, Ezra."

Ezra scowled and gave them a glare full of daggers.

And that's how she found herself near the eastern side of Capital City, watching from the rooftop. She was in her gear, suited up in her holographic suit and helmet, and her newest acquisition from Vizago –a Sharpshooter V, a blaster carbine rifle that she was going to use to snipe from the top of the building. The price tag of this thing made even the Galactic Empire weary of buying it in so much bulk, and reserving it for their special commando units. The civilian market only got to have a weaker version called the Hunter V that was cheaper and marketed as a sporting blaster.

In other words, Ezra had no idea how and when Vizago had gotten his hands on one of these babies, and was (secretly) delighted at getting one and being able to use it.

When her signal came, she knew because the bomb she'd planted was set off, engaging many of the members of Scairt's gang and drawing them out of their headquarters to angrily prowl outside. At the ready, Ezra began sniping away, delighted with the range of the rifle, even if she had to carefully aim more than usual, because the long range capability sacrificed much of the power of the blasts. She did make sure to take out the ones holding any blasters first, before taking out as many of the others. She only paused when she noticed that prissy journalist she sometimes saw on the HoloNet panicking by the ground.

Sighing, she slung the blaster rifle on her back and ran, jumping off the roof and grabbing hold of a pipe latched onto the side of the building. Sliding down it, she made it to the ground quickly and then rushed off to the journalist. He better have a damn good reason for being here…

* * *

Valen was a bit worried. The factory seemed a bit…abandoned and silent somehow. But at this time, the factory was long at work and there should have been signs of movement and sound everywhere. Just as he got nearer to the factory, he saw Ezra's supervisor leaving, looking harried and disconcerted.

"Solarlast?"

The man whirled around quickly, pointing a blaster at him. He held up his hands in alarm and when Solarlast saw who it was, shakily put down the blaster.

"Baron Rudor, what are you doing here?"

"I was going to check in," he said slowly, glancing at the factory. "What's going on?"

"You better turn back and look for a good place to keep safe, sir," Solarlast twitched. "We closed down the factory for the day, maybe the week… _Stuff_ is going to go down. We were advised to shut down for a while and keep cover."

Valen felt his heart speed up and his worry heighten.

"What about Ezra?" he blurted out. "Is she okay? Did she come around?"

Solarlast gave him a long look. " _He_  is safe. I think. He's the one who tipped us off and gave the warning."

Valen didn't know if that made him feel better or not, given that made it sound like she was involved in all this suspicious stuff.

"Baron Rudor,  _don't_  slip up next time," Solarlast suddenly said seriously, giving him a scrutinizing look. "Ezra's not exactly a…by the book employee.  _He_  has done excellent work by this factory, and  _by you_. If he would be to be lost, it wouldn't be just by being fired," he warned.

Valen inwardly winced, understanding that even a tiny slip of his could have had consequences, had Solarlast not already known of Ezra's circumstances. He had to be more careful about this.

"I understand," he nodded, acknowledging his slip and knowing he couldn't do that anymore, worried or not.

"Look out for yourself, Baron Rudor. Watch your head," Solarlast told him before leaving him behind.

Hesitant, Valen made a reluctant choice. If he was going to find out something, there was one person who could find out anything, if he didn't already know.

He hated this, but Agent Kallus was one helluva resourceful bastard.

* * *

There was absolute chaos. Apparently, there was blasterfire erupting all over Capital City. Reports of fights breaking out, and the streets being crowded with disorderly individuals came pouring in.

Kallus had, in fact, started gathering troops together to forcibly put order to the streets, when he'd gotten the order to  _stand down_.

As incredible as the fact was, he sat in his office, completely and utterly taken aback by the fact he'd been ordered to allow this-this unruliness to go unchecked. He couldn't believe this.

An obnoxious, loud and persistent knocking on his door took him out of his disbelieving, disgruntled thoughts.

"Come in," he reluctantly allowed, and his door slid open to reveal Rudor on the other end. He stepped in and the door closed behind him.

Kallus immediately scowled. "What do you want?"

Flustered, the pilot barely refrained from glowering at him. "I was hoping you would know something about Ezra."

Kallus' hand clenched, but he didn't reveal anything on his face.

"What about her?" he asked stoically.

Rudor's face twisted into a grimace. "I went to her factory this morning. Her supervisor warned me that they were shutting down for a while because of some…stuff that's supposed to be happening around the city…some nasty stuff, it sounds like. And he said that Ezra was the one who'd warned him about it. I came here, thinking you might know a bit more."

That was alarming to Kallus. If this chaos on the streets was a gang-related incident, he should be out there putting a stop to it. More so, if Ezra was involved…

"Have you checked her tower?" he asked gruffly, standing up and grabbing his helmet and bo-rifle.

Rudor shook his head. "I went straight to her factory after I checked in with the Flight Academy."

"Hurry it up," Kallus snapped at him as he marched passed him, opening the door to his office and exiting.

The naval officer was quick on his trail and the two of them left the Imperial Headquarters quickly.

"I have to locate a speeder," Kallus said, before Rudor interrupted. "I came here in one. We can take it."

He and Rudor switched places, and Rudor was now the one leading the way. It wasn't long until they found it and then they were speeding out of the city to her tower, hoping she was locked away and hidden safely in it.

But if Vizago involved her in this…

Kallus glared hard at the dashboard. He knew that he wouldn't hesitate to wrap his hands around that crime boss' throat if Ezra was in trouble.

"Oh, um…" he glanced at Rudor, who looked uncomfortable and glanced at him and then somewhere in front of him, and when Kallus looked, they were near the tower…and there was a familiar-looking man thoughtfully pacing around the base of the tower.

Rudor quietly parked nearby, and Kallus practically jumped out of the speeder and made quick strides towards the Jedi.

"You, Jedi!"

The other whirled around and warily watched Kallus come closer, but strangely didn't make a run for it. Rudor scrambled out of his speeder and tried to catch up.

"Kanan is my name, actually, not Jedi," 'Kanan' said sarcastically.

"I don't care," Kallus sneered. "Is Ezra here?"

Kanan made a face. "No. We had…practice planned, but she wasn't in her home. She didn't look like she'd been home since yesterday morning actually. I'm worried something's happened, since apparently she isn't with either of you, like I'd hoped she would be."

"There seems to be a gang war tearing through the streets of Capital City," Kallus revealed, making the other two balk and look at him in unease. "If Ezra's not in the factory or here, she's somewhere out there, doing some sort of dirty job for Vizago that has to deal with that."

"Who's Vizago and what does he have to do with Ezra?" Rudor interjected.

"It's a long story," Kallus said shortly, before turning his attention firmly back to Kanan. "Do we head to wherever Vizago's headquarters is, or head to the brothel?"

"Why would we go to a brothel at a time like this?!"

They ignored the flustered pilot.

"Brothel," Kanan answered quickly. "If it's happening over in Capital City, then they'd want to regroup at a closer place."

"Done," Kallus turned on his heel and headed back to the speeder.

Kanan followed close on his heels, refusing to be left behind.

"Are you coming, Rudor? If you're not flying, I'll take your speeder," Kallus snarked mockingly, making Rudor get back in the moment and practically chase after them.

Kallus was almost hoping they would leave him behind.

* * *

Ezra snuck into the base, having dealt with the idiots outside. She was quietly moving through the halls, taking out the gangsters that were still lingering in the base. It was laughably easy and she thought that if she was having it easy, then Rex and Asajj were probably having a ball, tearing through their base and making slaughtered lambs out of the gangsters at their end.

When she found Scairt, he was angrily hunched over his desk, muttering to himself.

Silently, she made her way behind him and then placed the barrel of her blaster rifle against his neck.

"I wouldn't move if I were you," she said, her voice still distorted.

She could see him stiffen up, but he made no move to face her.

"Damn Vizago," Scairt hissed in anger. "Greedy bastard. Had to start this druk up with the rest of us, did he? I bet he's got Maw cornered too. Well, you know what? I ain't getting out without a bang!"

Ezra's eyes widened, and before she could see what he had been holding all along, he'd pressed the button of the detonator and the place the went off.

Started 3/9/15 – Completed 3/9/15


	10. Nowhere We Can Hide

When she woke up, she was aware of the pain in her legs, particularly on her right, and of the pain to her side and of which felt suspiciously wet. It took her a few moments to be fully awake, blinking lethargically and breathing raggedly. Her head felt heavy and it took a lot of effort for her to lift it up and see her surroundings.

If she could guess the events, her earlier bomb had tipped them off, so Scairt had rapidly concocted a contingency plan –plant his own bombs underneath his base (at least underneath his personal office) as quickly as possible, no matter how haphazardly or just thrown there as they were. It was lazy, quick, and messy. Therefore the end result was  _very_  messy.

But fragging achieved results nonetheless.

The office (the whole base?) had collapsed downwards, so she'd fallen in and was underground. Debris was everywhere and there was no way she could climb out, with the piles of concrete, rocks, and various other things that were barring her way from getting out of the makeshift cavern she found herself in. That was if she could manage to move her legs in the first place.

Looking down, she finally acknowledged there was no way she could move herself out of there. Her legs were thankfully not completely crushed, but they were definitely broken and a large slab of the former ceiling was laying on top of them heavily. When she looked to her side and touched it, she pulled her fingers away to see dark red and knew she was bleeding and the wetness was from her blood. There were various other cuts and bruises on herself, but those were her two main concerns at the moment, with the wound on her side being more life threatening.

She could heal it, like she healed Sabine's similar wound…but she'd still be trapped and unable to move because of her legs. She could heal her legs and get out of there first (be quick about it so she could get help for her side wound so she didn't end up bleeding out), but she'd have to first move that concrete slab and she didn't have the energy or strength to do that. She wasn't even that far along in learning the Force, so she couldn't use it to help her move the slab either.

Ezra wasn't even sure she had enough energy to heal herself in the first place.

"Well, hell…I think I'm just about screwed here," she grumbled to herself.

This was going to take a while…

* * *

Alton hadn't left after he finished his report. Larek was still knocked out, and after the black-suited man had taken out the gangsters outside of the base, he'd gone in. Alton had waited, wondering what was happening, but too scared to follow after and find out himself. Just because he was a reporter, didn't mean he didn't value his own life thank you very much.

But then there was another explosion and he hurriedly ducked for cover. After some time, he looked back out from the niche he was in, and saw that the base was no longer fully standing or whole. Thinking about the black-suited man, Alton hesitated at his spot. Bracing himself, he ran out of his niche and towards the ruins and found a pile of rubble near to where he last saw the man, and began to move the debris aside until there was a good enough hole.

He hesitated again before wincing and moving to squirm his way in through the hole. He dropped through it and screamed slightly at the drop to the floor, where he landed roughly on his shoulder. He yelped at the pain, but he consoled himself with the fact that it wasn't dislocated. Hopefully.

Alton pushed himself onto his feet, seeing that the blast had made a new cavern in the ground and was spacious enough for him to stand up in. He walked a bit, until around a corner of where a small mountain of debris was, he saw the shadow of a person lying down and propped up against a rugged wall. Cautious and not sure if it was him, Alton walked slowly until he was close enough to make out the person.

He blinked.

It was a girl. She had dark hair that kind of looked like it had tints of blue, but it was dark so he couldn't be sure. Her olive skin was marred by various cuts and smudges of dirt, while her current clothing was roughed up and was ripped in many places. She didn't look conscious.

"Hey," he whispered. "You conscious? Hello? I'm Alton Kastle. You might know me from the HoloNet news?"

Treading closer, he knelt by her side and tried to gently shake her awake. Looking over her and seeing her injuries, he winced and decided that maybe he had to get back out and find someone to help. But then he caught sight of the belt around her waist, and it looked like a holobelt. Curious, he hesitantly reached out and touched it, activating it. It flickered, showing it was damaged, but he saw the disguise just fine.

His black-suited man was actually a girl.

Alarmed, he hurriedly reached out to turn the disguise off again, when her hand snapped out and snatched his wrist. He embarrassed himself by letting out a high-pitched scream, but she just slowly lifted her head and looked up at him with hooded eyes, the disguise flickering again.

"What are you doing here?" her voice came out strangely, distorted for a moment but coming out clearly the next. Obviously, she'd used a voice decoder and it was probably damaged now as well.

"I was looking for you," he said honestly, looking at her with wide eyes and feeling uncertain.

"Why?" she asked harshly, tightening her fingers around his wrist painfully.

He swallowed nervously. "I saw you come in here and then there was that blast and I wanted…I wanted…"

She narrowed her eyes at him, and he noted the bright blue irises were shadowed and darkened in the dim light of the cavern. It was made all the more eerier when her holographic disguise flickered off and on, and then flickered to only disguise half of her body, half of the helmet's image hiding her face and her other half revealed and looking at him darkly.

"I wanted to make sure you were alright," he fidgeted in her grip.

She looked at him for a few moments, studying him, before she let go. She snorted derisively.

"You fragging idiot," she insulted tiredly. "You should've ran. You should have left when you had the chance. What the hell are you doing chasing after me?" but by the end, she'd lost her insulting tone and sounded just irritable.

He didn't say anything, merely going to the slab and attempting to heave it off. But he had always been horrible at physical stuff, so just even a few seconds of attempting had him huffing and puffing, sweat already slipping from his forehead.

"Stop that," she muttered, watching him. "You're obviously not the type to haul around things. You need to stop or you'll end up passing out, especially since you have asthma."

"How did you know I have asthma?" he looked at her in surprise.

"Your inhaler from earlier," she said before she gave a groan and shifted slightly. "I took a guess."

Alton, a little put off, glared at the slab of concrete. There had to be some way to get this thing off of her.

"Why are you helping me?" she asked suddenly, but at least her tone wasn't biting anymore. She sounded simply curious.

He gave her an uncomfortable look. He wanted to say he didn't know. It would be easier to. But Alton had honestly wanted to help her out. She'd saved him, and she'd looked like such a cool superhero like the ones Alton had obsessed over when he was younger (and still did a bit).

He'd never been a physically abled person, not even as a child and especially once he'd been diagnosed with asthma. He'd been considered weak and useless, so Alton had meticulously groomed himself and took care of his looks, all the while maintaining his charisma and charm to compensate for being physically unfit.

And then here he was, finding someone who was so perfectly fit and graceful (the complete opposite of himself), and who had actually cared to look out for and even save a weak, useless person like himself. He'd been all too use to being mocked for his weakness and being left to fend for himself, but instead she came to his aid.

She was like his own personal hero.

"You saved me," he told her firmly. "I want to help you."

She looked at him blankly, before shaking her head and muttering to herself.

* * *

Furious didn't even cover what Kallus was feeling right then. He was in a rage and didn't care who could see that. And when they finally made it to the brothel, he was the first to jump out of the speeder before it had even parked properly. The other two were quick to follow, but he had no time to focus on them. Instead, he burst through the doors of the brothel, noting how crowded it was and filled with injured gang members. The building was packed and pained moans echoed through the air repeatedly.

"It looks like a war zone," Rudor muttered, eyes darting around.

"Probably because they'd just gone through one," Kanan muttered back.

Kallus ignored them and zeroed in on the harassed-looking crime boss that was yelling at a handful of poor souls. He marched over without any preamble, hoping that Ezra wasn't one of the injured crowding around the place.

"Vizago!" he barked out, and the crime boss practically jumped out of his skin before facing him.

"A-Agent Kallus," he twitched, smiling in a tense manner. "Great to see you! Unfortunately, we're not in business at the moment, so if you could come at another time –"

Kallus snatched the man's collar. "I'm not here to do business with you, Vizago," he hissed out. "Where is Ezra?"

Vizago winced, before glancing over his shoulder and spotting Kanan and Rudor, and winced again.

"Not here," he muttered and pulled himself out of Kallus' grasp, turning and hurrying away.

They followed after him, and were led into a room to the side. Vizago faced them then.

"Alright, I sent Ezra with two others to do a specific job for me," he admitted. "She and the other two were supposed to wipe out the bases of the other gangs, and then capture the bosses themselves. I don't know how long it would take for them. Knowing Rex and Asajj, those druks are probably messing around and tearing up the people and base for their own sadistic amusement. Ezra, on the other hand, is more responsible and would have effectively dealt with things, so I don't know what's holding her up. I don't even know how they split up, or even if they did."

Kallus angrily grabbed Vizago and slammed him against the wall.

"You had better hope she's fine, or I'll make sure you have a very memorable session with an Interrogator droid," he growled.

Before he could go any further, Rudor and Kanan pulled him off of the crime boss and the door opened to reveal a dark-headed young woman.

"Boss, turn on the HoloNet," she said seriously, and Vizago moved gingerly away from the trio to do so. He swore when he did so though, wanting to turn off the TV.

Alton Kastle was on the news, reporting about one of the gang bases and showing off a clip of Ezra in her disguise, fighting and winning against a mob of Scairt's gang.

"Well, at least she's winning," Vizago grumbled, before flinching as the three men in the room with him, turned angrily towards him. He cleared his throat and tried to smile harmlessly. "Anyway, what's that timestamp? What the…that was an hour ago! This is just a repeat. Where the hell is Ezra then?"

That made him worry on behalf of his girl and for the fact he was stuck in a room with three men that was even more worried about her, and looked ready to tear him into pieces.

"I got reports from the others that there was a second blast over in that direction," the dark-headed girl said stoically. "This is just a guess, but she might have been caught up in that blast."

Vizago cursed in every language he knew, again in his head as he saw the murderous looks being thrown his way.

"If I may, even though I'm new, I would like to head over and extricate Ezra from the location. She might be injured," though he wished she'd not mentioned that, especially in front of these three, Vizago gave a nod.

"Alright, gather up a few who aren't that injured, and head that way," he gave the okay.

"She can take us," Kanan cut in, and the man gave a cutting look Vizago's way.

"Fine, take them," Vizago grumbled, and the girl took a step back and let them leave the room, and then followed them out of the brothel.

"My name is Ailyn Vel," she gave them a quick glance. "Ezra is like a mentor. What connection do you all have with her?" she asked bluntly.

"I'm –" Kanan started, only to be interrupted by Valen. "He's a Jedi and Ezra's his Padawan."

Kanan glowered at the pilot, who shrugged. "That's supposed to be kept secret," he groused.

Valen at least had the grace to look somewhat sheepish.

Kallus pursed his lips and glared forward, glad to have found that they had neared the speeder. But once they got in, Ailyn didn't let it go and looked at him.

"And you?"

Kallus' hands clenched and unclenched. What  _was_  he to her?

"I'm…an informant," he bit out reluctantly, not sure what else to say.

She glanced at him, and looked like she knew that wasn't exactly what he was to Ezra, but kept silent. Instead, she turned to the driver of the speeder, catching Rudor's attention.

"What about you, Baron Valen Rudor? How does a famous pilot like you get tangled up in this mess?" she tilted her head shrewdly.

"Ezra is…" Valen could feel the stares boring into him from all three, though Kallus' was more angrily while Kanan's was intensely curious. She was curious as well, but not to the extent of Kanan, who knew a bit more of the circumstances and so was more interested about what he had to say.

"She's my mechanic," he stared straight ahead. "And well…I guess I'm her flight instructor too, since I teach her how to fly my TIE fighter."

That was news to the other two men in the speeder, while Ailyn's eyes lit up and she leaned forward eagerly.

"Really? Lucky! I'd always wanted to fly a TIE fighter too. She and I talked about that before. I guess all that time together must mean you two are close?"

Valen smiled slightly to himself. "I guess you can say we're…friends."

Kallus didn't miss the slight tinge of red that spread across the pilot's cheeks, and his hands clenched again.

* * *

The HoloNet journalist was kind of…weird. Well, Ezra didn't really know how to describe the guy, but weird was pretty much fitting. Still, she was glad he was there. It wasn't so lonely and depressing, and he filled the quiet with his rambling chatter.

She could tell she made him nervous –it was a known fact that Alton Kastle was usually very smooth with his words and the delivery of his lines. This rambling man was unsure around her.

But he was also hilarious as hell, especially when he realized that he could not get back out through the hole he'd climbed into the place through. Watching him jump fruitlessly several times, in order to reach the hole above him from some distance from her spot, and then fail each time was rather amusing.

"Are you kidding me?! I came in here through that hole! Now I can't even reach it!" he yelled in frustration at it.

She laughed slightly, then winced as the action hurt her wounded side. It caught his attention and he abandoned his attempts, going over to her.

"So much for me getting out and finding you help," he muttered, taking off his Imperial uniform jacket and balling it up. He held it to her bleeding side.

"Hey, I think I'd rather you stay and keep me company," she gave him a weak smile. "I don't want to be trapped here by myself, and stuck having nothing but silence around. It'd be dismal dying here like that…"

He tossed her an aggravated look. "It doesn't look…that bad."

She snorted, though she gained a thoughtful look.

"I could heal myself," she hedged, looking at him closely.

Alton looked relieved. "Then hurry up! What are you waiting for?"

Ezra gave him a grim smile. "I don't have enough energy to do it completely. I can slow down the bleeding at least. However, I'll probably be out of it, and most likely unconscious. In that time, who knows what can happen? I'm worried that a stray gangster is going to pop up, or something equally threatening."

Alton looked worried, but then determined. "I can keep a lookout in the meanwhile. You have to do something about the bleeding or else."

She rolled her eyes and fumbled for her blaster pistol, although she grabbed her rifle too. She pushed the pistol into Alton's hands.

"Shoot first," she mumbled, trying to keep conscious. "They'll shoot you first if you don't."

And if they were friendly, she had a feeling Alton was a terrible shot. But it would be enough for her to wake up and get ready to shoot before the enemy recovered, if they were enemies instead.

"Keep an eye on things," she reiterated, and then placed her hand against her side and started to heal it a bit.

She had to find a way to get out of there, because now she had an extra person to worry about. She had a feeling, despite being unharmed and mostly healthy, that Alton was in no position to get out of there on his own.

* * *

Valen was glad to be at the site of the demolished base. It simultaneously made him worry more, while relieving him. Relieved to finally be there, but worried at the destruction and how Ezra was at that moment. He was sure the others felt the same, even that Ailyn girl that accompanied them.

He was still feeling confused and not sure what to make of everything. He just knew that Ezra was probably in trouble and needed help, and there wasn't any possible way he could deny her that. Fragging heck, he was working alongside a Jedi to get to her!

"I found a hole!" Kanan shouted, and they rushed over to him from where the spots they'd previously been searching over.

The four of them worked to make the hole large enough to drop through. Then first Ailyn, then Kanan, and then Valen jumped through. They each shuffled out of the way quickly so the next person could jump through safely, so by the time Valen was down, he moved out of the way to avoid Kallus' heavy bulk from landing on him.

"This way," Ailyn pointed, seeing footprints.

They followed them and ended stopping abruptly as they avoided blasterfire.

"Hold your fire or else!" Kallus was the one who barked out.

There was whispering, but there were no more shots. Valen bit his lip and wondered what was going on and if Ezra was nearby. But then there were footsteps and everyone got ready to fight, before being taken aback by the appearance of a pale-faced Alton Kastle.

"What are you doing here?" Valen blurted out.

The reporter held up his hands. "Please help. She's really hurt and I don't know what to do, and she said she recognized one of your voices, so please don't be gangsters!"

Valen couldn't help feeling cold and focusing on 'she's really hurt.'

_Please don't be talking about Ezra._

But as they hurried after Alton, he could feel his stomach drop as he saw the injured and nearly passed out figure, who was breathing heavily as she aimed a blaster rifle in their direction, but was obviously trapped from moving.

Ezra saw them and dropped the blaster rife. She waved in tired cheer.

"Well, hey guys."

They stared and her sheepish grin twitched and faltered.

"Galaxies, I'm going to get a lecture from all of you, aren't I?" she muttered to herself, sighing as she hung her head.

Alton burst through the gloomy atmosphere, excitedly rushing to her side.

"Hey, hey! Look! I finally managed to get help!"

Ezra laughed weakly.

Started 3/31/15 – Completed 4/2/15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. Ailyn Vel: Is an EU character; the daughter of Boba Fett and will probably be Sabine's foil/rival.
> 
> 2\. Imperial deaths: Well…I said I wouldn't kill them off just because people hated them and the pairing, but not that they wouldn't die at all (didn't I? I'm sure I did). Kolkolkolkol…
> 
> 3\. Alton Kastle: I hadn't thought he'd keep coming and get so big in here, but…he's grown on me, hahaha. Oh well.
> 
> 4\. Ahsoka and Rex: Crud I was going to pair Rex tentatively with Sabine, but then Ahsoka showed in the finale and I'm such a Rexsoka fan…
> 
> 5\. Pokémon Collaboration account: Please check it out and the stories I'm writing there (I'm personally in charge of "The Book of Eve" and "Kitty Claws"). It would really mean a lot to me and make super happy! Go here: https://www.fanfiction.net/u/6604088/TheRegionsLegends
> 
> 6\. SWR CHALLENGE fanfiction: If someone would write a story where Ezra is the reincarnation of Padmé –you know, since she died on the same day Ezra was born, it's like a switch off! You can genderbend Ezra, but it could be equally interesting if Ezra was still a boy. Mostly, I want to see how one of you will write Ezra's interactions with Vader and Vader's reaction to this little nugget of information :D It doesn't have to be romance, but if you want to, go right ahead. And the romance doesn't even have to be with Vader either.


	11. A Collision of Personalities

Ezra's weak laugh collapsed into a series of coughs and she felt more than saw the others rush towards her.

"I'm –" she coughed, "fine. Really. It's just a lot of dust around."

"Fine," Kallus scoffed. "Is that how it looks being stuck underneath this thing?"

She grimaced and avoided looking at Kallus. Unfortunately, her eyes landed on Kanan, who didn't look too better either. His disapproving frown matched with his extremely worried countenance made her grimace again.

"She's hurt," Alton interrupted. "Her side was bleeding really bad. She said she could heal it enough to slow down the bleeding, but it's still injured."

That alarmed the others enough to almost converge on her again, though Kallus pushed past and made it to her injured side, examining it with a critical eye.

"What happened?" he demanded, looking straight into her eyes and she knew he was refusing anything but the truth.

She sighed. "Vizago wanted the other two gangs out of the way. He was tired of all the turf battles and the other gangs trying to invade or steal his territories, so he had his gang all gathered up and announced this gang war. He had me and two others specifically go out to get the bases and bosses, but Scairt –the boss I was responsible for in this base –went practically suicidal and blew up his own office. Everything caved into the base's underground level and I fell into the huge underground hole with the rubble. As you can see," her voice went slightly sarcastic, "my side got injured and I got trapped under this concrete slab. I'm pretty sure my legs are broken or slightly crushed." She winced.

"I wouldn't be quite sure," Kanan said cryptically, though he did glance at Alton and she figured he meant something about the Force helping out in some way to prevent that kind of devastating injury.

"Why didn't you heal yourself more? Or get this slab off of you?" Valen asked. She barely glanced at his fretting face before looking away.

"I don't have enough energy and I'm pretty injured," she admitted. "My side was really worse off. I thought of healing my side, but I'd still be trapped and unable to move. I was thinking of healing my legs and rushing for help for my side, but I'd still have to move this damn thing off of me," she gestured to the slab.

"And I didn't have strength for it," she shrugged. Ezra glanced at Kanan. "Or the training," she added on carefully. "I wasn't sure I could heal myself in the first place."

"She told me that she had only enough energy to slow down the bleeding," Alton elaborated, reiterating his earlier statement. "Said she'd be out of it or unconscious and I promised to keep watch. Told me to shoot first, which I did," he said proudly, giving one of his renowned smiles to Ezra.

"That you did," Ailyn finally said something, voice full of sarcasm. "You missed completely."

Alton became flustered, a frown forming on his face towards her when Ezra cut in.

"Good job, Alton," she said. "You kept watch like I'd hope you would. Even though I did want you to shoot first because I knew if it had been one of the other gangsters they would've shot first, you managed to keep it together and do what you were supposed to."

Ezra mentally banged her head against a wall, wondering why in Lothal she was praising the guy. But then he was straightening up and back to giving her one of his charming smiles, and she remembered that for some reason her opinion mattered to him and the guy was attached to her.

She'd heard him calling her a superhero under his breath a few times…?

"I was a lousy shot though," he mumbled, glancing at the others. He gave her a side-look. "But you knew that, didn't you?"

"I figured," she answered unapologetically. "If it was an enemy, your first shots would have made me conscious enough and let me get ready to start firing back. On the other hand, if it was an ally, you'd miss and there would be no harm done," she grinned cheekily at him.

"Of course that would be your thoughts," Valen snorted.

"Ugh, I really hope all this gang stuff is over," Kanan let out a huge exasperated groan.

"It should be," Kallus said sharply. "After this, you're supposed to be working as my aide and not have to deal with all this so much."

"So long as I don't have to play Blaster, Datapad, and Sabersword," Ezra grumbled to everyone's amusement but also confusion. She huffed. "That's how I got into this predicament. The other two made me play for who gets which base. Apparently I 'won' and got to be alone because I picked datapad."

Valen and Alton nodded. "The bane of everything."

Kallus paused before nodding. "Datapad wins."

Kanan snorted, though he then looked thoughtful. "I did really hate doing all that paperwork when I was…" he trailed off after looking at Alton.

Ailyn just looked confused while Ezra was just plain exasperated. "Of course you guys would agree. Can we get this slab off of me now?"

"Right!" Kanan got into gear. "Kallus, Rudor, grab hold of either side of it. I'll do most of the heavy lifting, so to speak, but it'll help if you two were to help somewhat."

Kallus and Valen nodded, while Ailyn watched with calculating eyes. Alton looked lost, but currently no one was willing to fill him in completely about Ezra and Kanan's Force-ability statuses.

"Do me a favor, ignore Vizago next time," Kanan told her while starting to concentrate.

Ah, the full lecture. She knew it was coming.

"Yeah," Valen said. "We were worried. I almost got in trouble with Solarlast because I slipped about your gender and all trying to find you, and got a warning to not slip up anymore. I'd appreciate a heads up when you do things like this, so I won't panic so much."

"Or not do it at all," Kallus' tone was definitely showing how angry he was about all this. "Be a little less reckless for all our sakes, won't you? I'm not old enough to start producing gray hair."

Ezra flinched. "Sorry. I  _am_  reckless. I'll…try not to be." No promises though. She just couldn't help it sometimes.

"Good luck on that," Ailyn told her in amusement, obviously not buying it.

The concrete slab was slowly but surely getting moved off of her, which was a relief to Ezra so that she could finally feel a little bit better and less crowded in on.

Alton stayed quiet, watching the proceedings and not making a comment about seeing a huge concrete slab seemingly being moved into the air and off of her, even though Kallus and Valen helped it get off of her enough for Kanan to take hold of it and begin to move it by himself. It wasn't totally high and it wasn't moved too far away, but Kanan managed to move it off of her and to the side.

"I'm a bit rusty," Kanan said sheepishly.

Ezra grinned at him, waving it off. "No, that was still way cool. I can't wait to learn that."

"We'll probably have to stay here a while to allow Ezra to heal up and gather energy," Kanan informed the others.

"That's fine," Kallus agreed.

"I'll leave first, let Vizago know what's going on and that you'll be along soon," Ailyn said.

She came over and briefly embraced a still sitting Ezra, before she was gone and had left them behind.

"So why are you here?" Valen turned to Alton in confused curiosity.

Alton blushed. "Um, I'm unable to get back through the hole I jumped into to get in here."

That made Ezra's lips twitch, remembering that. But it looked like that wasn't what the others wanted to know.

"No, I meant what are you doing here? Why did you come here in the first place?" Valen said, looking at Alton weirdly.

"I wanted to check on her," Alton pointed at Ezra. "Only I didn't know he was a her."

But that only served to make the others warier and more confused. And looking at Kallus, Ezra could add suspicious and tense.

Alton swallowed. "Um, earlier, I was sent to report on the gang war and ran into her. She was in her disguise and she'd saved me before taking on all those people. When I saw the base collapse after I saw her go in, I got worried and went after her. I found her and found out my mystery savior was a girl, and stayed here trying to help."

They didn't completely understand his reasoning, but they did manage to read his sincerity. It probably didn't help how out of sorts and disheveled he looked, compared to his usual impeccable appearance on the HoloNet. For as long as Ezra knew of the HoloNet reporter, Alton Kastle had always maintained a very groomed, clean cut image that had helped convince the masses of all the Empirical-supportive reporting he spouted.

She'd been bitter and resentful of that, up until she met the guy and realized how much of an actual softhearted…dork? –that he really was. It was hard to make her head reconcile that with what she'd thought she knew about the other.

"I'm pretty sure that Rex and Asajj should be done by now," Ezra noted, deciding to just switch subjects. Before Kallus and Valen, she didn't used to be so sympathetic towards Imperials, damn it!

Kanan scrunched up his eyebrows. "Rex and Asajj? Why do those names sound familiar?"

"Do they?" Ezra shrugged, starting to slowly heal her legs now that she felt a little better and more perked up than earlier. "I've known them since I was a kid and joined Vizago's gang. I have a theory that Rex was an old clone from back in the day, and that both him and Asajj knew each other from then."

That made Kanan pale as it clicked for him. "You…you don't know for sure, do you?"

Ezra finished with one leg thankfully. "No, not really. Like I said, it's just a theory. Why?"

"There was a clone commander that worked closely with Master Kenobi and Master Skywalker, and who was nicknamed Rex. Asajj…was a powerful and skilled Dark Side user that fought against Master Kenobi. I don't recall whatever happened to either of them after the Republic's fall."

Ezra started to work on the other leg, thinking about it. "Rex is pretty good at hand-to-hand and blaster shooting. He's the one who's given me lessons all these years in those. He also wears old clone armor. Asajj gives me lessons in Jar'kai. They don't much get along."

"Would it be a bad thing if those two are who you think they are?" Alton interrupted, asking Kanan hesitantly.

"I can't stand clones," Kanan said angrily and Ezra winced. "And Dark Side users are dangerous. Asajj Ventress was renowned for her skill in double-light saber combat and was a dangerous foe then. If she's still as good, then I don't know if I can defend against her, even with your help."

Finally done, Ezra tested the use of her legs, unsteadily getting up. Kallus, who had been quiet so far, firmly grabbed onto her and steadied her, though he glanced at Kanan thoughtfully.

Ezra sighed and shook her head. "Look, as far as they are now –even if they were the same people you think they are –right now they're nothing but bitter, reticent mercenaries. They're working for  _Vizago_ of all people."

"Let's get out of here," Kallus said and Ezra was thankful for it. She could tell Kanan was still disgruntled about this and hadn't completely stopped freaking out, but focusing on leaving would keep him occupied for now.

They walked over to the hole that Alton had come in at, which was much closer to them than the one Kallus and the others had gone through. Glancing at Alton, who looked hesitant up at the hole, she shook her head and grabbed onto him.

"Stick with me, will you? I'm afraid you'll just end up tripping and breaking your neck around here if you were left on your own."

Honestly, she felt like that might actually come true.

* * *

They finally left and made their way back tiredly, ending up at a brothel. Alton looked at the building bizarrely, but no one ended up filling him in. However, he ended up putting it together himself as they entered and he saw all the injured and recovering gang members. This was probably this Vizago's headquarters of some sort, and where Ezra (funny how he only found out her name after the others came and called out to her) was regrouping with the others. He wondered about the outcome of this gang war and whether or not Ezra's boss was successful. He also wondered about this odd little group, of which the likes of two Imperials, an obvious rebel, and his heroine (but obviously a criminal) were a part of.

That and he was still confused about how she could heal herself and how that other man was able to move that concrete slab; he did have an inkling that he kept his mouth shut on for now.

Alton wasn't an idiot. Far from it. But he also knew how to play his cards. His best bet right now was to keep things close to his 'vest' and not reveal his hand, and obviously he was in enemy territory too. It wouldn't do to make a fuss and probably get roughed up (or worse).

"You okay?" Ezra whispered to him, nudging his arm.

He blinked and gave her a wide smile, trying to channel as much of his charm as he could, despite his current state. He didn't want her to think he was a slob or something.

"I'll be fine," he whispered back. "Tired and sore in places I'm not used to, but okay." He looked around warily. "If a bit…unsure about my surroundings."

Her lips twitched up and she lightly pushed at his shoulder. "Hey, don't worry. I'll be here to protect you from the big bad gangsters," she teased.

Even though he blushed a bit, he was practically beaming. But then one of the others, Baron Valen Rudor he saw, pushed past him and grabbed onto Ezra's hand. He tossed Alton a narrowed gaze before stalking forward with Ezra and beginning to talk about how he finally managed to get her assigned as his personal mechanic, after some initial problems at the main factory. He raised his eyebrows at that, though he was also a bit miffed at the man's attitude towards him.

What was  _his_  problem?

"Ezra! Thank the Makers you're alright," they were greeted by, further into the building. The Devaronian that met them strode forward, though Agent Kallus and Baron Rudor shifted to move protectively in front of Ezra. The man named Kanan simply looked amused by the other two, so Alton guessed that this person wasn't someone that was too much of a threat.

"Cikatro," Ezra greeted dryly, while Kanan greeted him with "Late to the party, Vizago." Agent Kallus and Baron Rudor didn't bother to greet him at all.

Ah, but so this was the head of this particular gang and Ezra's boss then.

The reporter glanced around, making note of things and generally being observant as much as he could. He kept quiet and let the others handle things, and probably blending in the background until he was going to be brought up. And indeed, after Ezra finished her report to the Devaronian, he caught sight of Alton and looked caught off guard.

"What the kriff is Alton Kastle doing here?"

"I picked up a stray," Ezra answered with a straight face and he almost couldn't help starting to smile.

Vizago threw an annoyed look at her, before turning back to him and scrutinizing him closely. Before he could start in on Alton, he decided to speak up first. Putting on his best smile and looking as congenial as he could, Alton straightened up and held out a hand.

"Hello, good sir. I'm Alton Kastle of HoloNet. I'd like to get an exclusive with you and this young lady," he gestured to Ezra, who looked taken aback.

Kanan was giving him a raised brow, but Agent Kallus had his typical indifferent face on, while Baron Rudor was frowning at him. Vizago looked surprised before utter delight appeared on him, and Alton decided that he managed to skew things in his favor, more so since he was getting prime, exclusive news.

Also, it meant more time with his hero.

"Sounds like a fantastic idea, Mr. Kastle! I'd love for you to report on my victory and spread the news around Lothal," Vizago sported a rather sharkish grin that Alton didn't flinch at. He'd had to deal with plenty of people like that before in his interviews. He could handle this Vizago.

Just then, before anyone could do or say anything else, the door to the private room they were talking in burst open and two people shuffled in. Dirty, grumbling, and bloodied, the armored man and pale woman stopped at the threshold and stared at the rest of them inside.

"Bad timing, Rex, Asajj," Ezra sighed loudly.

Started 1/7/18 – Completed 1/15/18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now this has been a long time since updating! Ah geez. Hope you guys still like this story. To be honest, I mostly stopped (didn't lose interest of course) but didn't prioritize this because back then, the beginning of the fandom and this archive was really against some of my favorite characters (like Kallus). These days though, they're much more popular and have more fans, so I'm hoping a lot more people will come to like this story now. Please remember to review!

**Author's Note:**

> 1\. Strove Solarlast: is an OC, and may be semi-occurring. Not sure how important he'll become.
> 
> 2\. Vizago: will play a much bigger role than he does in the series.
> 
> 3\. Characterizations: Hopefully, everyone's in character for now, though I haven't gotten to Ezra's playful and joking side yet. Plus, with the story changes, things and people will be slightly different, if not completely.
> 
> 4\. Ghost crew: will definitely come in next chapter, though will probably start becoming a major part of the story in chapter three.
> 
> 5\. Changes: With the changes already set, you can see that some differences have occurred i.e. Ezra going to see Valen and his ship much later than what occurred in "Property of Ezra Bridger."


End file.
